The Rebirth of DameTsuna
by vescaria
Summary: Reborn doesn't make an appearance in Tsuna's life until high school, and until then, Tsuna's got to fend for himself. He's managed to gain the attention of Yamamoto Takeshi, an idiot, who's probably a lot more trouble than he's worth. AU. OOC!Tsuna.
1. The Almost Suicide of Yamamoto Takeshi

**The Rebirth of Dame-Tsuna**

**Vescaria**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.

**Warnings**: OOC!Tsuna, AU, Canon!Rape, Righthand!Yamamoto, Yaoi (maybe…probably), and lots of other things.

**Notes**: I am murdering canon here. Why? Because it's fun. Therefore, Tsuna's a messed up individual due to prolonged bullying (who wouldn't be a _little_ messed up), and the gang's not meeting Reborn until high school. I won't give away all my plots, but I'm just gonna say that things are going to be _way_ different in this story. Prepare thyself! Or not. Your choice. ;)

* * *

Yamamoto stepped up the edge of the rooftop fully intending to jump, fully intending to end his life; however, he simply stood there. Frozen. The well-liked baseball fanatic wasn't sure exactly what stopped him, but he found that he could not take those few steps necessary to end his life. Instead, he stood on the edge, gazing on the ground almost longingly. He didn't really understand what was stopping him, but it seemed that suicide was a lot harder to commit than he thought. Thinking on the situation and how he had gotten there, Takeshi failed to notice that another person was there, watching him, completely and utterly annoyed at his presence.

"If you're going to jump, _do _it already," someone said from behind him, and the suicide-bent boy whirled around in surprise. Sitting only a few paces away was Dame-Tsuna, probably the most-well known failure of Namimori Middle School. Takeshi had several classes with the other boy, and he knew for a fact that Tsunayoshi wasn't really good at much of anything, just like his nickname implied. Yamamoto, himself, had never been bold or cruel enough to use the name, but he could see how it had come about. Everyone, it seemed, was good at something—except for Sawada Tsunayoshi. Yet, at the moment, right before he chose between life and death, he couldn't help but notice that Dame-Tsuna was quite a bit different than normal. Truly, he should have been more concerned with his own life, especially since he was about to end it and all, but he couldn't help but let his mind wander to the mystery before him.

Firstly, Tsuna wasn't known for being particularly good at handling people. He stuttered something awful and never stood up for himself. Yamamoto was pretty sure Tsuna was prime target for bullies, being weak both physically and mentally. Yet, once again, he was forced to rethink what he had once thought to be true about Sawada. Before him was a boy with a sharp, hard gaze, looking at him as if he were some kind of diseased animal, and the way he had spoken, really, who _encouraged_ someone to commit suicide? This new, strange, intriguing Tsuna did apparently.

"Aha," he laughed nervously, using his one good arm to reach up and scratch his head sheepishly, "I'm not sure I'm going to do it. It seems silly now." The smaller boy snorted, giving him a look that clearly questioned his sanity. There were bruises, Yamamoto noticed, on the boy's face and neck—a testament to the bullying he had suspected.

"A broken arm is a really stupid reason to commit suicide, _idiot_," Tsuna muttered, tilting his head back to observe the cloudless sky. Yamamoto reckoned he was right, being Dame-Tsuna and all. He was willing to bet good money that Tsuna probably had _a lot_ more reasons to commit suicide than he did. He would, of course, have been right in that respect. The baseball player didn't have too many problems in comparison to Tsuna. A broken arm wasn't really anything, not when you got a glimpse of the big picture. Tsuna, for starters, didn't have a single friend. Not one. He hadn't passed a single test since he started middle school. He was bullied just about every day after school, and just about everyone he knew called him by his hated nickname, Dame-Tsuna. Most assumed that he had really given up and into the name. Some people were meant to be bullied and would probably not amount to anything. Some people were just meant to be failures. Tsuna happened to be a big failure, and most thought he had accepted it. Yamamoto was one who wrongly thought so, if a bit subconsciously.

But really, Tsuna didn't want to be a failure, and there was _no way_ he wanted to live by the name Dame-Tsuna for the rest of his life. Really, it wasn't until he hit the bottom of the proverbially well that he decided such, and after a particularly bad week, he realized that there was no way he was going to survive his short, mortal life, if he didn't make some huge adjustments to the way he lived. It had started with a week of particularly bad, over-the-top bullying. The perpetrators had vandalized his desk, stolen and destroyed his books, taken his lunch, and had beaten him to a bloody pulp, all in a five-day span. Tsuna would go home, hoping for a little break in the torment, only to find his mother waiting with a speech at the ready. On the one hand, he understood her frustration. Who wouldn't be frustrated that their son failed at just about everything he attempted? But that was beside the point. He was _tired_, and he really didn't need to have his shortcoming exploited by his own mother. Really, it wasn't any of those things that pushed him off the precipice, but rather, it was his own mother using _that_ nickname—Dame-Tsuna.

Something so simple can change everything.

The name rung in his ears, and it stung. How do you handle your own mother calling you something you normally hear when you're getting slammed into doors or pushed down the stairs? You could say that in that moment, as tiny as it may seem, that "Dame-Tsuna" ceased to exist.

It wasn't nearly as instantaneous as it sounded. Tsunayoshi didn't just suddenly become good at the things he had once failed at. It took giving up video games completely and late night study sessions to pass the first few tests. It took careful planning and early rising to avoid bullies enough to avoid the majority of the beatings. The small boy had yet to change his peers' or his mother's opinion of him, but he liked to think he was making progress. His teachers had noticed his grades getting better (even if a few claimed he had to be cheating to be getting such high marks). But to be clear, he wasn't doing any of these things for _them_. Tsuna was being purely selfish this time. The decisions he made were based on the feelings of anger, bitterness, and helplessness he had been feeling for the majority of his life, and he intended to insure that people thought twice about calling him Dame-Tsuna in the future.

All of the before-mentioned events lead up to that moment between Yamamoto Takeshi and Sawada Tsunayoshi on the roof where Yamamoto once thought he would commit suicide. Yamamoto, like many, hadn't noticed the changes in Tsuna at all. They weren't friends, and he had never had any reason to be interested in the other boy. However, Tsuna unknowingly changed the taller boy's decision to kill himself, and despite how much he wanted to travel his future road alone, he was going to be stuck with the optimistic Takeshi for a while yet.

* * *

"Tsuna-kun! Good morning!" Yamamoto shouted above the noise, causing heads to turn dangerously fast in his and Tsuna's direction. Said-boy fixed him with an icy glare before he almost sprinted away to his seat. Yamamoto didn't look at all discouraged by Tsuna's refusal to greet him back, and rather, he smiled as though Tsuna _had._ All around them whispers that weren't really whispers erupted.

"Did Yamamoto-kun _really_ just greet Dame-Tsuna?" There was a disgusted look in Tsuna's direction.

"I can't believe Dame-Tsuna! He didn't even say anything to Yamamoto-kun, even after he was nice enough to say good morning!"

"Can you believe that? What's up with Yamamoto-kun?"

"Yamamoto-kun, you really shouldn't waste your time on Dame-Tsuna."

A nod. "He's a lost cause."

'Dame-Tsuna. Dame-Tsuna. Dame-Tsuna.' The name repeated like a broken record in his thoughts, and Tsuna turned towards the window in a desperate attempt to escape the sudden attention. 'That idiot!' he thought angrily, not daring a glance at the baseball-star of Namimori Middle. Almost immediately he came to the conclusion that Yamamoto felt _obligated_ to try and befriend him. 'Probably since I talked to him yesterday after his idiotic attempt to jump off the roof,' he grumbled to himself. Or worse yet, maybe the other boy was attempting to make himself feel better by associated with someone as pathetic as the one and only "Dame-Tsuna". Either way, he concluded, he wasn't about to humor Yamamoto. He'd never had a friend, and it wasn't as if he needed one now.

However, the bizarre attempts to single him out continued.

"Ah, Tsuna-kun, can I have lunch with you?" A few girls in the room did a double-take, almost fainting from shock. How could their precious Yamamoto-kun be asking to eat lunch with someone as lowly as Dame-Tsuna? It was unheard of, such a horrible occurrence to behold. To their utmost mortification, Tsuna scowled darkly at their ever so popular Yamamoto, an expression neither Yamamoto nor the girls had ever seen on his face before, before stalking away. Yamamoto, even more frighteningly, dashed out the door to catch up with him. "Oi! Wait up!" Tsuna stopped abruptly in the hall.

"Ah, Tsuna. Let's eat lunch together from now on," the boy said, smile plastered across his face.

"I eat alone," Tsuna snapped. "Find someone else to pester." Then he was gone again, flying through the hallway before anyone could say anything. Yamamoto's smile slid away, and he failed to notice that a large swarm of gossipers had begun to chatter about him and his new-found interest in the most pathetic life form to attend their school. Yamamoto wasn't about to give up—true sportsman didn't give up after all. He decided there, standing in the hallway amongst the whispers, that he was going to do whatever it took to be Tsunayoshi's friend. He was just much too interesting of a guy to pass up.

It wasn't easy by any means. Tsuna avoided and evaded him at every turn it seemed, and in the afternoons, he would find all these secret escape routes to get home without having to pass Yamamoto. Anyone else would have been disheartened, but Yamamoto found it thrilling to have to go through such difficult trials just to gain one friend—one very interesting and mysterious friend with a particularly bad reputation. When he had told his dad about it, Tsuyoshi had laughed at his son's good-natured interest in this bizarre kid, and he encouraged Takeshi to continue pursuing a friendship with him.

It wasn't until their class's volleyball match in the gym that Takeshi had a chance to take the next step with his whole friendship gamble. Anyone in their right mind would never have mentioned the game to Tsuna, and no one had dreamed (or rather nightmared) that Yamamoto, their reliable team captain, would invite Tsuna to play in their game. Of course, there were objections. Everyone knew that any team with Tsuna on it had the tendency to lose—badly. More troublesome yet was that fact that anyone who questioned Yamamoto's motives (or sanity) ended up on the receiving end of the fakest smile Yamamoto had tucked away in his arsenal along with a sage note that it was a team effort not the effort of one person that made a team win or lose. Tsuna, poor, unwilling Tsuna, ended up getting dragged into the gym against his will by Yamamoto who seemed to have gone deaf to his snarls and threats to let him go, and then when he tried to leave while Yamamoto was arguing with the rest of the team over his presence, a group of girls told him he should be grateful that Yamamoto stood up for him and refused to let him exit the building.

Yamamoto was pleased to have Tsuna playing with him, even if he wasn't at all a good player, and he hoped that the metaphorically olive branch he had just extended would go over well with the smaller boy. It, of course, hadn't. Tsuna spent the majority of the game stabbing Yamamoto in the back with his mind, and his lack of attention caused him to miss the ball at least half a dozen times to the team's horror. In the end, they lost, and no one was really surprised.

But they were angry.

"Oi! Dame-Tsuna! What the hell were you thinking, playing out there with us?" He was unceremoniously shoved into the lockers and pinned there by a pair of arms much stronger than his own. Cursing his luck and Yamamoto's stupidity, Tsuna struggled helplessly for a moment. Their team had gathered around to get a piece of him, and the largest and more fowl players seemed to have decided amongst themselves to punish him for their loss personally and _painfully_. Tsuna couldn't say he didn't see this coming, but sometimes he wished he was wrong about things like this. The first fist caught him the stomach, and he would have fell to his knees if he hadn't been held up by another person. The next hit landed on his ribs, and if they weren't broken they were going to be bruised like hell, he decided. A fist collided with his jaw, and someone kicked him, hard, from the right.

"What's going on here? Tsuna!" Tsuna wondered briefly, through the haze of pain, if Yamamoto was born stupid or if he has simply gotten that way somehow. At least, he thought, they had stopped their onslaught for a moment.

"Yamamoto! What the hell were you thinking, letting this pathetic bastard on the team?" The bully shook him a bit for good measure, and Yamamoto's face went all stony. The group tittered uneasily. Yamamoto was a popular, well-liked guy. He always smiled from what anyone could see, and he didn't get involved in fights—until now it seemed. No one had seen that particularly dark expression on his face before, but then again, when it came to Tsuna, Yamamoto was completely unpredictable nowadays.

A fake smile bloomed on the boy's face. 'So scary,' a few of the guys thought, edging away. "I think you should leave him alone," Yamamoto hissed quietly, and Tsuna vaguely decided it had to be a born sort of stupidity, _really_.

"This is your fault! Maybe we should teach you a lesson, too, huh?" one of the bolder, more fearless guys leered, aiming a kick towards Yamamoto's midsection, catching the boy unaware. Takeshi couldn't say he'd ever been beaten up. He was a likeable guy after all, but that day in the gym was the first of many firsts involving Tsuna and Takeshi. He was helpless, just like Tsuna had always been—both of them attempting to somehow escape the group of boys that were set on punishing them both for such an insignificant loss.

It didn't take long for the bullies to get bored, to finish their lesson, to deliver their final blows, and it was Takeshi who spoke first, someone managing to sound a bit happy at the events, "Will you eat lunch with me now?" Tsuna groaned in a mixture of pain and exasperation.

"My _God_, you're a moron," he managed to get out. Blood was dripping from his split lip, but he was smiling a bit, all because of that damn Yamamoto. Together, they managed to stumble to the nurse's station to get patched up wordlessly, and Takeshi came to a conclusion there that would probably be labeled monumental if an outsider had known of it. Watching Tsuna wrap a bandage skillfully around his midsection, he swore he wouldn't let them be helpless again. Next time, he thought, he would be the one dealing out the blows in Tsuna's defense. This scenario wouldn't be allowed to play out again. Takeshi and his new best friend would not face a trial like this unprepared again.

* * *

"I'll even treat you, I swear," Yamamoto said easily, laughing in that carefree manner that managed to somehow piss Tsuna off. The other boy, still nursing his wounds, didn't slow in the slightest.

"I'm going home," he ground out. "My mom's waiting for me, and I'm already late."

"Then we can just go and pick up something, and you can surprise her with dinner!" Tsuna could swear that Yamamoto was a lot more manipulative than he seemed, with that stupid smile of his, but then again, he mused, it was probably just dumb luck. He wanted to decline again, but he knew it was a good idea. His mom was probably already fuming that he was late, and she probably _explode_ when she saw how banged up he was. What better way to suck up to her than bring home dinner like a thoughtful son?

Finally slowing to match Yamamoto's pace, Tsuna glared into the distance. "Fine," he grunted, unhappily. The baseball fanatic was practically glowing with happiness, Tsuna noted. 'What an idiot,' he thought again, and he would never admit that he thought so a bit fondly. Taking the smaller boy's hand, Takeshi practically skipped to the sushi shop his father owned and worked at. Tsuna followed behind, not putting up a fight against the boy leading him away from his normal route of travel. Takeshi's father took in the haggard appearance of his son with a quirked brow and smiled brightly. Obviously something good had occurred between the two boys, and Takeshi's perseverance had prevailed—unsurprisingly. It was with a satisfied grin that he handed over some sushi, glad that his son had made such an important friend. Said friend looked embarrassed, giving Yamamoto a look that promised painful things, and thanked Tsuyoshi quietly. The older man could swear the boy was blushing.

Tsuna headed toward the door almost immediately after receiving the food, but Takeshi lingered a bit. "Dad? I need to talk to you about something when I get back," the happy-go-lucky teenager said quietly, a determined look on his face. Tsuyoshi nodded slowly, and he couldn't even begin to guess at what the discussion would entail. He waved his son off, and the two boys disappeared out the door—presumably for Tsuna's house.

As predicted, the sushi (and the new friend) managed to placate Nana quite a bit, and she didn't comment on their appearance or Tsuna's lateness. Really, Sawada Nana was just concerned for her son, and she wanted the boy to be the best he could be, just like any normal mother. Yamamoto Takeshi was the gift from above she had been waiting for, and she was sure that everything else would fall into place soon enough. Smiling more happily than she had in a long while, she welcomed the two boys into her home—not knowing that it would become a common ritual soon enough.

* * *

"Eh?" Tsuyoshi was honestly surprised. He had been certain this day would come eventually, especially when his son had come home a few weeks ago speaking of nothing but Sawada Tsunayoshi, but he had never expected the day to come so soon. Yet, here was his son, standing firm, determined. "Still willing to teach me the way of the sword, old man?" There was that sheepish look, mixed with something sharper. Something was happening, with Sawada at the center, and his son was following, following like Tsuyoshi had hoped and feared. Such a dangerous road, he thought, walking with that boy. Still, it was now or later, wasn't it? A smile spread across his face, "Only if you're serious, ne?"

Takeshi nodded.

"Then I will teach you Shigure Souen Ryu."

* * *

In the weeks and months that followed, people got used to it—Yamamoto hanging out with not-so Dame-Tsuna. If there was a game, Takeshi would, without a doubt, pick Tsuna to be on his team first. If you needed Yamamoto-kun for anything during lunch you'd head to the roof where he'd be swapping sushi for whatever Sawada Nana packed for the day. If you picked on Tsuna, heaven forbid, you'd be end up an unwilling participant in a training session to strengthen Takeshi's skills with his bamboo sword (that some swore changed to metal with a single swing). Yet, Tsuna's reputation improved—mostly due to his rising grade average—and so did his relationship with other students, to the point that such drastic measures weren't necessary often.

By their final year, students began to throw themselves at Tsuna, begging for tutoring since he was known to help Takeshi sometimes at lunch and after school with homework and notes. He would decline, though Takeshi often encouraged him to, with a chilly look on his face, and the taller boy knew better than to comment further. Tsuna didn't care too much for people, and to most it seemed that he barely tolerated Yamamoto. (What kind of friend called their best friend an idiot all the time?)

One could assume, however, that he didn't dislike Yamamoto _too_ much since he always managed to come to most of the baseball team's games and practices. The two of them would leave squabbling over silly things, heading for the sushi shop or Tsuna's house, and it was so normal that no one thought twice about it anymore. Tsuyoshi would watch Tsuna smack Takeshi with a textbook with a laugh, and Nana would smile to herself when she walked into her son's room to find the two of them (mostly Tsuna) arguing over the next step in a math problem.

"Oi, Tsuna! Study session tonight?" Yamamoto shouted across the hall, sprinting towards his friend, not noticing the hoards of girls that giggled as he went past. His friend, as reluctant as he was sometimes, rolled his eyes, turning away from him and walking towards the exit of the school without waiting.

"Unless you want to fail," he replied.

The baseball player laughed good-naturedly. "Hai, hai."

Tsuna smacked him hard upside the head, "Pay attention or I'll throw you out the window." The taller boy didn't doubt those words. Once when he slept over, he had made an innocent comment to rile his host up, because it was fun, and he woke up, hanging half out the window. He couldn't say it was a pleasant experience.

"So," he said sheepishly, "the Heian period?" Tsuna glared at him.

"I just started talking about Ashikaga Shogunate."

"Feudal, ne?" Takeshi was trying hard to keep from being draped out of the window in his sleep, but he never did get into history. It was so _boring_. Wasn't it more fun to make history, anyway? Tsuna didn't think so, he thought. The other boy was a regular taskmaster, though he couldn't say he didn't enjoy it. He was the only one who communicated with Tsuna on this level of intimacy. That brought a smile to his face. Still, despite how much Tsuna had changed, Takeshi was his only real friend, and he would say the same. People admired them—even Tsuna now, who seemed to have made a total transformation in the middle of his time in Namimori Middle—but no one really tried to befriend them.

He was hit again. "Eh?" he managed out, surprised by his partner's sudden violence.

"You had a stupid look on your face," Tsuna explained casually, standing and stretching his limbs slowly. "I'll go get us something to drink, since you _obviously_ can't pay attention to a word I say. Idiot."

"You say I have a permanent stupid look on my face," Yamamoto pointed out with a grin, ignoring the insult. It was just Tsuna's way of being friendly. He would never call Yamamoto an idiot in front of his mother, but when they were alone like this, Tsuna was a very violent and mean individual. Takeshi often mused that he had to have a bit of a masochistic side to put up with all the abuse. He stretched himself and laid his head on the table while he waited. He hoped things would stay like this, at least for a while. Life with his new friend was a lot more interesting, more fun. Sometimes, he thought sleepily, Tsuna was better than baseball.

"Oi! Don't go to sleep, Yamamoto-baka!" Tsuna ordered, setting their drinks on the table. The taller boy stirred a little but didn't wake up, much to Tsuna's annoyance. "Idiot," he grumbled. He grabbed a blanket that Yamamoto had long-since claimed during his frequent stays at Tsuna's house and laid it across his friend's shoulders. "I really should throw you out the window this time," Tsuna mumbled, but he knew he wouldn't. It would do him much good to mortally wound his only friend. Instead, he settled for studying, sipping at his tea quietly. 'Let the idiot fail the test,' he thought, that would be punishment enough.

He had just gotten to the end of the Edo Period notes when Yamamoto stirred, his cup of tea had long since gone cold. Tsuna gave Takeshi his best glare, "I'm never helping you study again."

"You put this blanket here?" Yamamoto muttered, his eyes still heavy with sleep.

"I-idiot! I didn't," Tsuna sputtered, his face turning pink. He had hoped to deter Yamamoto's inquiring about it. Heaven forbid the idiot began to think he actually cared.

"Haha," Yamamoto laughed happily. "Thanks, Tsuna. It was nice of you."

"You're so sappy, idiot! And you're going to fail your test tomorrow."

"Hai. Hai." He laughed at Tsuna's red face, smiling happily. '_Let's stay like this for a while yet,_' he prayed.


	2. Herbivore or Carnivore?

**The Rebirth of Dame-Tsuna**

**Chapter 2**

**Vescaria**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.

**Warnings**: OOC!Tsuna, AU, Canon!Rape, Righthand!Yamamoto, Yaoi (maybe…probably), and lots of other things.

**Notes for the Reviewers**: I do intend to continue this, and I already have the first four chapters planned out. :) I don't want to focus on romance too much in the story, but at the moment, the pairing I'm leaning toward is 8027 (aka Yamamoto x Tsuna). It's not set in stone, and it probably won't even be a big plot device so I wouldn't worry too much about it. And don't worry, Gokudera-kun and Reborn will make their appearance. Not in this chapters. (Hibari demands his time, of course.) Haha.

**X**

Their last year of school went by as normally as it could for two people as bizarre as Yamamoto Takeshi and Sawada Tsunayoshi. Now, some would argue that Yamamoto wasn't bizarre at all, but really, you had to be a bit strange to spend every day with someone like Tsuna—especially as violent as he was towards Yamamoto-kun. Truthfully, Tsuna was annoyed that the other boy had somehow managed to worm his way into his life without his complete consent, but he was grateful, too. He would never admit it, since it would do entirely too much damage to his pride, but he did enjoy Takeshi's presence—even if he was a suicidal moron.

Normal days started early for Tsuna. He'd wake to the shrill beeping of his alarm, deliver a harsh kick to the annoying contraption to turn it off, and roll out of the bed sluggishly. Normally by the time he made it to the bathroom he was wide awake, and in there he would brush his hair and do other normal human things to make himself presentable to the public. Afterwards, he'd head back to his room to change into his uniform, and then he'd go downstairs to eat the same breakfast he'd eaten since he started this new way of life—two slices of plain toast with the weird blackberry jam Takeshi had given his mother for the past two Christmases. Unless it was an awful day, he'd be out of the house before his mother woke up.

Really, he would have eaten more in the morning. What kind of growing boy can exist on just toast? But Takeshi insisted on most days that Tsuna come in and have a bit to eat before heading to school, always saying teasingly that he was still much too short and needed his protein. Yamamoto seemed to forget that nowadays Tsuna could handle himself quite well in a fight, and his right hook was particularly good—even more so if it was Yamamoto. The baseball player would normally laugh it off, though Tsuna knew he had hit hard enough to cause _some_ pain. (Tsuna had the sneaking suspicion that Takeshi was a sadist.) From the sushi restaurant, the two would make their way to school leisurely, normally with quite a bit of friendly (at least Yamamoto claimed they were) jabs every now and then from Tsuna's end.

School was boring now. Tsuna found studying the material on his own more enjoyable and more efficient, so he tended to drift off in class, and Yamamoto found himself to be the object that anchored Tsuna's attention on most days. Yamamoto was still as obsessed with baseball as he had been when he had first become friends with Tsuna, and his grades often suffered because of it. Therefore, Tsuna had taken it upon himself to make sure the baseball freak paid attention during lessons so he didn't have to study nearly as hard later—seeing as Tsuna was always the one who helped him study in the end. (It wasn't because he cared about the idiot, of course.) History was a particular favorite. Nakajima-sensei allowed him to keep Yamamoto awake by throwing pencils (unsharpened, _of course_) at the back of boy's head. His aim was improving, Tsuna mused, as he watched Takeshi stretch one day to help further wake himself up.

From school, Yamamoto normally would go to practice, and Tsuna would watch from the fence. Girls from their class (and many from others) would stand a distance away and watch as well, all eyes drawn to Namimori's baseball star. Tsuna thought they were a bunch of losers and has said so to Yamamoto on many occasions, but the other boy would just laugh it off—he never did seem interested in such things. Tsuna hadn't come to realize that half the girls came to see _him_ watch _Yamamoto_, as creepy as that may sound. Many were convinced the two of them were an item—including his own mother. That fact still boiled his blood, and if his "one and only friend" brought it up when they were in an appropriate place, he'd give him a good, hard beating with their history textbook.

From the baseball field they'd go one of two places. On the lazy days they'd head over to the sushi shop for some food, and they'd hang out until one of them fell asleep (Takeshi, Tsuna thought with a snort). On any other day they'd head to Tsuna's house to study until late at night where Yamamoto would almost always, without any doubt, fall asleep at his desk. It was the baseball training that tired him out, that and their other _hobbies_. One day, Tsuna thought, Takeshi would have to give up one of his beloved pastimes. 'The sword or the bat,' he'd say to himself, 'which one will you choose?'

This particular day was interesting enough. Tsuna, in a rare fit of restlessness, decided to skip class, and Yamamoto, as his best friend, of course, accompanied him to the roof where they always went on such days. On 'such days', Yamamoto was sure to watch his back (and his front for that matter) as soon as they stepped onto the roof. When Tsuna cut class with him without complaining it meant he had an itch for a fight, and normally those fights ended in injuries, _lots_ of injuries. Yamamoto would admit that he enjoyed those days the most, as much as he probably shouldn't, because it meant he got to have some real private time with his friend. Being at his or Tsuna's house was fun, more fun than school definitely, but there were still people around that caused Tsuna to act differently than he would normally. And by normally, Yamamoto mused, he meant the way he acted on the roof. That, he decided, was the real Sawada Tsunayoshi.

Tsuna had progressed a long way from his former self of a few years past. For one, his grades were that of a model student, and Takeshi could attest to that fact since Tsuna was practically his sensei many days—especially after a long string of baseball games that devoured his time. Most weren't privy to the fact, but Tsuna had been _experimenting_ with different fighting styles since they had become friends. It had terrified him at first. Tsuna, who had been beaten up his whole life, was suddenly initiating fights. He would let the other party have the upper hand; he would let them beat him into the ground, and then he would go home and analyze the way they fought—taking notes and muttering to himself. Takeshi had been upset about it at first. Surely there was a better way to learn? But Tsuna would call him an idiot and do it again. He would provoke and watch. Then, he'd go out on the roof and train against Takeshi until he was satisfied or until the style proved too useless for him to pursue. Yamamoto couldn't begin to count the number of weapons Tsuna had gone through before settling.

Since he had seen Tsuna progress, he knew what the other boy was capable of, and to be truthful, it thrilled him. Sure, it scared him a lot, too, but it was cool to see your best friend succeed in something he was passionate about, and Tsuna was passionate about his fighting. Today was no exception.

"Maa," he started, just before they stepped out of the door that led to the roof. If he spoke now Tsuna would most likely listen, _probably_. "Maybe today we should skip the weapons?" If they fought hand to hand, Takeshi knew they'd still get bloodied up but not as much as they did when they fought with weapons.

"Idiot. How else are we going to improve if you keep wimping out?" Tsuna snorted, stepping out the door before Takeshi could get another word in. It was true that for the last three fights, Yamamoto had convinced them to do without weapons, and it seemed that Tsuna wasn't going to be moved this time. 'Oh well,' the darker haired boy sighed, defeated. Spying the kusarigama leaning next to the door, he laughed a bit.

"You were planning this, weren't you?" Yamamoto's lips twitch into a smile as he gazed at his friend. Tsuna scowled at him, lifting the weapon easily. The chains connected with the kama, the sickle, rattled in a familiar manner. Yamamoto was so used to the sound he found it almost comforting. If he voiced that particular thought aloud, especially now, he'd probably end up with a severely bruised shin. He didn't dare think of all the hospital visits it had taken before he and Tsuna had become skilled enough to fight on this level together. His old man wasn't as much of a pushover as he had originally thought, and Tsuna had come so far that he was probably more dangerous than the old man himself. Sometimes, he didn't know what he should fear more—his best friend or his old man?

"No going easy today, or I'll stop going to your practices for a week," Tsuna announced, settling himself a little ways away. The distance was the length it would take for the weight on the bottom of Tsuna's chain to wrap securely around his sword. At any point during the fight, if that occurred, he'd have a hard time escaping the kama that would no doubt follow. Yamamoto almost grinned at the thought. He always thought of the best moves when Tsuna pulled impressive stunts like that. "Oi! Stop smiling like a moron!"

"Gomen!" he said, though he wasn't really sorry at all, and he was sure Tsuna knew that, too.

Today Tsuna was favoring the kama, Yamamoto noticed immediately. His bamboo sword, the Shigure Kintoki, had long given way to its true form, and he took great pleasure in dodging the well-aimed swipes of smaller boy's weapon. Normally, the chain would be swung to distract the opponent, and then the user would move in with the kama to deliver the final blow, but things were much more complicated between Takeshi and Tsuna. Yamamoto was far too used to Tsuna's weapon to fall for simple tricks, and he had gotten quite good at dodging both the weight at the bottom of the chain and the kama. Really, in all actuality, it was a battle that was part stamina and speed and part instincts. Yamamoto won the first part, and Tsuna the second. So really it was always a toss-up. Tsuna dropped the chain to deliver a blow, and Takeshi quickly used his foot to keep his friend from regaining use of it, limiting his range of movement. Tsuna hissed like an angry cat, pulling back and going on the defensive.

Takeshi noticed Hibari-san just as his sword met the cool metal of Tsuna's kama, but Tsuna wasn't letting up. Once, twice, three times there was the ringing that accompanied the meeting of metal, and Takeshi could almost swear he saw flames flickering over his best friend's hands for a moment. It was too bad that Hibari's tonfas interrupted them or he might have been able to determine whether or not it had been a trick of the light. Stepping off Tsuna's chain, he jumped back. It wouldn't do to get in Hibari's way, especially not when he had _that_ expression on his face.

"You're disturbing my nap," the leader of the Discipline Committee said calmly. "I'll bite you to death."

Takeshi laughed quietly, letting his sword fade back into its bamboo form. Tsuna slung the chain of the kusarigama over his shoulder and dodged the black-haired boy's initial attack. Yamamoto could almost see the gears and clogs in Hibari's head working as he attempted to land a hit on Tsuna. Once upon a blue moon he had asked Tsuna, after a particularly dull fight, if he intended to provoke Hibari to learn about his tonfas—even if he couldn't imagine Tsuna using them. Instead of answering, his friend had punched him in the shoulder lightly, calling him a moron. Standing on the sidelines, however, he could see one of those really odd smiles cross Tsuna's face, and a shiver of anticipation shot through him. Takeshi knew that look meant trouble—though trouble with Tsuna was often a fun experience. He watched as Tsuna pushed Hibari back a few paces with the kama, before the smaller boy pulled back completely, letting the sickle hang at his side.

"Let's go, Yamamoto," Tsuna said quietly, heading toward the door. Hibari watched them, eyes narrowing, but he didn't stop them from leaving. The kusarigama leaning next to the door—since Tsuna obviously couldn't take it with him—was promise enough of something interesting later.

**X**

Tsuna had a weird look on his face for the rest of the day, Takeshi mused, and he decided that it probably wouldn't be much longer before the two of them tangled with Hibari again. For the remainder of the day, he attempted to pay attention to class, but his mind kept wandering back to the rooftop where Tsuna's kusarigama was waiting. Really, Tsuna couldn't have been more obvious about the impending fight, and Takeshi, if he were to be honest with himself, was feeling a bit excited about it. Hibari was probably the best fighter of Namimori Middle, and he couldn't say he had ever heard of a person getting the better of him. Then again, most people didn't know the way of the Shigure Souen Ryu like Takeshi or how to wield an impressive arsenal of weaponry like Tsuna. A folded piece of paper landed on his desk, and in Tsuna's almost unintelligible scrawl was written a short message.

_You should fight him._

His eyebrows almost shot up to his hairline. Him? Tsuna was normally the one who went around fighting people. Takeshi, he was the backup, the one who came in before things got too rough. It was rare and unheard of that he started the fight. The baseball player wondered what his friend was planning, but really, he knew it wasn't very likely that he would get an answer out of him. Tsuna wasn't very forthcoming with his motives until everything was said and done. (Takeshi supposed it would ruin his new mysterious image if he went out and explained things first.) So, really, he did the only thing a good friend could do and wrote back with one of his big, famous Yamamoto smiles.

_Sure!_

Tsuna rolled his eyes and directed his eyes to the front of the room, ignoring Yamamoto for the remainder of the day, but Takeshi could see that his friend's eyes were more fixated on the clock in the room than the teacher. Yamamoto focused his gaze on Tsuna, reminiscing on their strange friendship. In all actuality, he and Tsuna were probably the most unlikely pair to become friends—even now. This new Tsuna was multi-sided, and most people didn't really know what to think of him. Suddenly, Dame-Tsuna had become smart, had become suddenly calm and collected—icy. Before he had been quiet, shy really, but now it was like he was always waiting silently, waiting for something to grab his attention. Takeshi knew Tsuna hadn't forgiven anyone, maybe not even him, for making his life miserable in the past. In the present, Tsuna was waiting for someone to make his current life more meaningful—at least that what he thought of it. Then again, Takeshi reckoned that Tsuna's mind was probably much too complicated for him to fully comprehend.

Sort of like the whole situation with Hibari-san.

When the bell finally rang to signal the end of school, Takeshi and Tsuna made their way to the roof without speaking. They veered from their path only once to retrieve his Shigure Kintoki, which he always stashed in the same place to keep it from getting stolen while he attended class. Class, he thought with a laugh, was the only time he really parted with it. As Takeshi turned the handle to the rooftop's door, he noticed that Tsuna had that peculiar smile on his face again but didn't comment on it. This was obviously going to be interesting for the both of them, and if it amused Tsuna, his dear friend, then all the more reason for him to go through with it.

"Wish me luck," Yamamoto said with a grin, pushing the door open.

Sunlight assaulted their eyes, and he could hear Tsuna's snort, "Idiot. You don't need luck." Takeshi supposed that was as good as it was going to get when it came to his friend and swung his bamboo sword to reveal its true form for the second time that day. Hibari, it seemed, was waiting for them.

"Herbivores," he said slowly. The black-haired boy observed them coolly, his tonfas already in hand. It seemed he had been waiting as much as they were for this fight. "You won't escape punishment this time." Any normal person would have been afraid. Hibari Kyoya tended to strike fear in any _normal_, functioning human being, but Takeshi felt that thrill again—the one he had been feeling more and more since he'd become wrapped up in the affairs of his best friend. He was painful to admit, but baseball didn't really compare to the feeling.

Yet, Takeshi was smiling winningly. "Oi, Hibari-san, let's have a go."

Hibari didn't need to an invitation. "I'll bite you to death," he said just as he attacked for the first time. 'So f_ast_,' was the only thought Takeshi could manage out before he threw himself into the fight. The Shigure Souen Ryu was perfect, his father had said. He would need no other style to defeat his enemies; nothing could compare to his old man's Shigure Souen. Yet, he found himself facing a problem. Hibari was making it difficult to counterattack, difficult to even begin thinking of a way to gain the upper hand. It took a matter of minutes before the tonfa-wielding boy landed his first strong blow on Takeshi's person.

"Good hit, there," he said with a laugh that ended in a slight grimace. Hibari cocked his head slightly before moving in again, obviously not impressed in the slightest with his remark. Two hits turned into three, four, and five quickly, and Takeshi could feel the bruises forming. He knew that if he didn't start doing some damage quickly he was going to end up the loser—very soon in fact. It seemed he'd have to get serious, though Tsuna was say that was impossible. Twisting his body, he jumped backward in attempt to put a little more time between them so he could at least use a defensive form, to help gain some leverage.

Unfortunately, Takeshi realized too late that he hadn't put nearly enough time between himself and Hibari. The Discipline Committee member was a lot faster than he was, it seemed, and he briefly wondered if the other boy was some sort of demon. No human could possibly be _that_ fast, right? Hibari's tonfas caught him hard in the stomach, and he dropped his sword, sending it crashing to the concrete a few feet out of his reach, falling to his knees. 'This next one's gonna hurt,' Takeshi thought briefly. He was going to have to work on his speed when this was all said and done.

"Just like an herbivore," Hibari muttered, going in for the final blow. "So weak."

Takeshi had long since accepted that he was going to get hit. His sword was out of reach, and his stomach was throbbing from the last hit. He just wasn't fast enough to avoid those demon's tonfas. His head snapped up at the familiar sound of clinking chains, and something whizzed in between the two fighters. "That's enough, Hibari-san," Tsuna commented quietly.

"I don't take orders from you," Hibari hissed threateningly, but his hands were bound by the chains securely. Tsuna tugged harshly, a dark look passing across his face, and Takeshi could see trickles of blood flow from the wounds Tsuna's chains were causing. He winced. The taller boy knew, from personal experience, that those would sting later. The two standing were giving each other a silent stare down, and there it was again. There were flames flickering on Tsuna's hands, extending to the chain of the kusarigama, and if Hibari noticed as well, he wasn't showing it. The bound male was more concerned with giving Tsuna a threatening look, as if daring him to say something else, but he looked intrigued as well. Maybe he had seen the same thing Takeshi had?

"We're done here," Tsuna said with finality, and with a single motion, the chains returned to their master. Hibari's arms were bleeding lightly, but he lowered his tonfas. His eyes met Tsuna's again, and something passed between them that Takeshi didn't quite catch. It was as if the two of them had some kind of silent communication going, a weird eye-contact based understanding. After a moment, Hibari tugged at his coat harshly, turning from them, and headed towards the door.

"If you disturb this space again, I'll bite you to death," he said before disappearing into the building. Takeshi let out the breath he didn't know he was holding and allowed himself to fall back onto the concrete.

"So scary," the boy muttered, though he didn't really mean it. Tsuna's head whipped around, and his lips were set in a fine line. Yamamoto propped himself up on his elbows, giving his friend a questioning look. He couldn't say he'd ever seen that expression on Tsuna's face before. 'What would I call that look?' he wondered. He'd seen Tsuna frustrated, annoyed, embarrassed, and even the slightest bit happy. Yet, this was a strange new expression. If he didn't know better he'd say his friend looked a little guilty. "Oi, Tsuna," he began, "what's up?" Tsuna's face twisted almost painfully.

"Idiot," his small friend whispered tiredly, "you were so slow today." Takeshi frowned.

"Ah, I was just a little tired from practice," he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. He winced a little, the pain from his midsection shooting through him at the movement. Covering it up with a smile quickly, he hoped Tsuna didn't notice—but, oh boy, he had. And it was apparent, he noted, that Tsuna didn't like it—at all. "Hey! It's alright. I had fun with Hibari-san. He's really good with those tonfas, ne?"

"It was your dad's idea," Tsuna said quietly. Takeshi froze, and the smile slid off his face easily. "You're spreading yourself too thin. We've both noticed. Your sleeping patterns are bad, and your grades are slipping. Your performance on the field's been worse on the field lately, and you're so _slow_." The smaller boy took a breath, pausing. His next words didn't really surprise Takeshi. "Baseball or Shigure Souen Ryu—your world's not big enough for the two of them, Takeshi." The other leaned back, to look at the sky, squinting.

"You called me Takeshi," his eyes crinkled in a happy sort of way, and Tsuna smiled in a painful sort of way. "You and the old man are always looking out for me, aren't you? Haha. I have such a good friend." The smaller boy looked away, bristling as he heard the words like an angry cat. Takeshi would have laughed at him, but he was sure the boy would probably dish out some major abuse if he did. It occurred to him that Tsuna's actions made perfect sense nowadays. He watched team practices every day, watched Yamamoto's health fail a little more each day he attempted to stick to both hobbies with the same amount of passion. It probably would be strange to anyone else, but Tsuna probably knew his sleeping habits better than he did.

"Idiot!" Tsuna snapped loudly. "You're so sappy! And useless! Sometimes I wonder why I'm friends with you!"

Takeshi let the smile linger for a minute, before it disappeared again. "I suppose I'll have to break it to the team tomorrow." Tsuna frowned, obviously not expecting him to come to a decision so soon. "You know the old man told me that he wouldn't teach me unless I was serious, and I doubt he'd forgive me if I abandoned all that training."

Tsuna wasn't moved, "You're an idiot. What about all that talk about being a professional baseball player?" The smaller boy wanted to say he was sorry, since he was the major cause for such a choice, but he couldn't bring those words to the surface. Yet, Takeshi understood his friend well enough, and he could see that his friend didn't _want_ him to have to make this decision. However, he knew it was necessary.

"Haha, you're a lot more fun than baseball, Tsuna-kun," Takeshi admitted, grinning like the idiot Tsuna always accused him of being. The other boy's face went red almost instantly, and it seemed that Tsuna had forgotten that he was injured since a foot collided with his shin repeatedly. He couldn't understand half the insults flying out of his friend's mouth, but he was sure that deep down, even if Tsuna would never admit it, he was happy. "And anyway, we've got to stick together, ne? Your best friend's got to get faster so he can make Hibari-san our friend, too." Tsuna sputtered.

"Is that what you thought we were doing?"

"Tsuna's so shy when it comes to new friends," Takeshi teased.

"Go _die_," Tsuna said coldly, delivering another kick to his shin mercilessly. Takeshi could swear the temperature dropped by at least ten degrees, and his shin and midsection were aching painfully now. It was worth it though, he thought, to go through all this pain. It was for a good friend, and for a friend they hadn't quite made yet. Those two were worth more than his baseball any day. "You're being sappy again, I know it! Get that stupid look off your face!"

"You're so _loud_ today and _mean_. What would Momma say if she saw you beating on your innocent, injured best friend?" he managed through a laugh. Tsuna kicked him again, going into a tirade about morons that shouldn't have been allowed to live.

'So worth it,' the ex-baseball player thought.

**X**

Truth be told, it hadn't gone over well. There were things in the universe that had to remain the way they were, and many thought the day Yamamoto quit baseball would be the day the world exploded into little bits of confetti. Even worse yet, the time that was once spent on baseball was now spent trying to convince Hibari to be their friend—or stalking as Tsuna would snort when asked about it—by fighting on the rooftop. Yamamoto, Tsuna had long since decided, was like a disease with no cure or a cute, abused puppy that followed you around where ever you went. It was hard to escape him, and he had advised Hibari many times just to give in. There were some battles you just couldn't win. That, of course, never went over well with the Discipline Committee leader, and within minutes of speaking, Tsuna would end up defending himself against Hibari's tonfas.

No one—not even Tsuna or Takeshi themselves—were sure if Hibari was their friend. They didn't hang out like normal friends did, and most of the time they spent together was used to fight. Yamamoto, after dropping baseball, found himself more energized for his sessions with Hibari, and the black-haired boy had ceased to call him a 'herbivore' by the final days of middle school—their speed almost matched. Yet, when it came to killer intent and will, Takeshi would easily say that Hibari had him beat. Tsuna, as far as the swordsman knew, didn't get called an herbivore since Hibari took a special interest in him. If Takeshi had to make a statement about their relationship with Hibari, he'd say they were allies. Hibari wasn't the type to make 'friends'.

Takeshi figured that was as good as it was going to get, and, as the final days of middle school faded, he hoped that high school would bring with it more interesting friends who would enrich their lives. Tsuna would simply pray that he didn't get stuck with any other troublesome characters.

And so ended their days of middle school.


	3. The Demon and His Right Hand Man

**The Rebirth of Dame-Tsuna**

**Chapter 3**

**Vescaria**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.

**Warnings**: OOC!Tsuna, AU, Canon!Rape, Righthand!Yamamoto, Yaoi (maybe…probably), and lots of other things.

**Notes**: I love you guys so I give to you—another chapter! As far as I know, Reborn's going to make his appearance next chapter, with some friends. ;) The chapters are probably going to come a little more slowly after this, but I'm posting them as I finish them.

**X**

Sasagawa Kyoko had been in this situation once before. Different boy this time, but everything was essentially the same, even that awful feeling in the pit of her stomach. Seeing her brother on the ground, at another person's mercy made her feel sick, especially since he now had the strength to fight back but was choosing not to—for her. She hated to see him hurt because of her. No matter how many times Ryohei would tell her it wasn't her fault because, really, it wasn't, she still felt so guilty about it. That hadn't changed from the time when they were kids, and here they were in high school facing the same situation and feelings.

"Either way, Sasagawa, your sister's going to the kendo club's manager," Mochida sneered, and Ryohei's eyes sparked with anger. Their demands were outrageous. Ryohei was to quit the boxing club—an action that would most likely bring the club to its knees—and Kyoko was to promise to be the manager of the kendo club. No negotiating.

"Leave Kyoko out of all this," Ryohei ground out. The only reason he had ever decided to be "extreme", to fight with all his will and his heart, was to protect her after all, like a good big brother. One of the lackeys not holding him down whacked him in the stomach for his lack of cooperation, and it was then that the door to the dojo slid open, unnoticed.

"Onii-san!" Kyoko shouted desperately, begging them to stop hurting her brother. She hated to be weak, to be the only one crying in the whole room, but she felt so helpless. She couldn't _do_ anything to protect her brother. Needless to say, Ryohei felt similarly. He hadn't felt helpless in years, not after he had started his extreme boxing training. Now he was an endless ball of energy that could not be extinguished, but when it came to Kyoko, especially in a situation like this, he had to tread carefully. There was no way he was going to let these cowards hurt his sister because of him.

"Seems that Kyoya was right, ne? He said something about crowding herbivores being in here, didn't he?" The teen shook his head. "That's no good. They should be using this wonderful day for some more productive training exercises, ne, Tsuna?" a voice said loudly. Yamamoto Takeshi and Sawada Tsunayoshi, their black blazers open and their white uniform shirts untucked, strolled in as though they owned the place. Mochida turned first, pointing his kendo sword in the direction of the newcomers, obviously a display of power meant to make them back off. Yamamoto just smiled and waved at him with his free hand. His Shigure Kintoki, a familiar weapon on Namimori High's campus, was propped up on his shoulder casually.

"Oi, we're busy in here," he shouted threateningly.

"We can see that," the second, slightly shorter boy snorted, before turning to his companion. "You should kill them, Takeshi. What a waste of space."

"Maybe I should keep you away from Kyoya. You're both starting to sound the same! What happened to my cute best friend who kept practically mute in public?" Yamamoto laughed, not moving his sword from its position, and continued to completely ignore Mochida. Tsuna scowled at him, muttering under his breath about idiots, before punching the other in the shoulder.

"Moron."

"Oi! I'm talking you, Yamamoto!" Mochida said loudly, not at all liking the fact that these two were invading his territory at such a critical moment. "We're _busy_. Get out." Around him, the members of the kendo club nodded, brandishing their swords threateningly. Creepily enough, Yamamoto's grin seemed to widen. Mochida wouldn't say he was scared of them, no. Sure, he had heard rumors about them, _scary_ ones in fact, but he wasn't afraid. What could the Discipline Committee's "allies" really do to them? There were only two of them!

"Should I draw it out?" Yamamoto mused aloud to himself. Tsuna shook his head quietly, looking at his friend as though he had lost his mind.

"Do you really think you can drag a good fight out of these guys? You'll die of boredom," the smaller boy pointed out. "Anyway, you swore to Kyoya you'd fight him when we got back, and he'll tear you a new one if you spend the majority of your lunch fighting these losers."

"What'd you say?" a particularly large member of the kendo club snarled, and there were similar sentiments all around. Kyoko had stopped crying a little while ago, feeling better now that the heat was off of her, but she was surprised to see Tsunayoshi and Yamamoto-kun. She had been in many of their classes in middle school, but she hadn't seen them since then until today. They were so _different_—Tsuna-kun especially. The last time she had seen him he was so shy, and he hadn't any friends. She had heard that Takeshi had made friends with him, but she would never have expected them to be like _this._

"Maa, it's not nice to call your classmates losers, Tsuna," Takeshi scolded good-naturedly.

"Don't tell me what to do, _idiot_." Kyoko's eyes widened. The old Tsuna would have never said something like that! In fact, she wasn't even sure if it was _that_ Tsuna or not. Someone couldn't change that much, could they? He looked similar, to be sure, but he acted entirely too different to be the same Dame-Tsuna from middle school.

"Who are you calling a loser, _Dame-Tsuna_?" Mochida said with a loud laugh. Takeshi's smile fell away like rain off a rooftop, and Tsuna went still as stone beside him. A tension exploded in the room that filled Kyoko with anticipation. "Haha!" Mochida laughed rudely, obviously not realizing what he was getting himself into. "You haven't changed at all since middle school. You're still no-good! You have to have Yamamoto protect you, don't you? Bet you still score in the single digits on tests, too." A few members of his club chuckled, but others had their eyes trained on Takeshi and Tsuna nervously.

"Takeshi," Tsuna said quietly. Ryohei, who was focused on Sawada-san, noticed he was reaching for something in his pocket. He withdrew a pair of black gloves, leather by the look of them. Yamamoto looked solemn and took a step back.

"Hai."

"Stay out of my way." Almost as soon as he spoke those words, Tsuna had punched the nearest lackey in the face. Said teen fell to the ground with a thud, clutching his bloodied nose, and the dojo went silent. Tsuna straightened, looking directly at Mochida. "It's unforgiveable to use _that_ name to address me," Tsuna hissed, his eyes flashing, and Mochida released his hold on Kyoko to take a step back. Tsuna advanced, ignoring the lackeys that moved in to keep him from getting to their leader.

Mochida, not wanting to appear weak, glared, "What name? _Dame-Tsuna_? It's what you are after all."

"Foolish animals," a new voice said. Hibari Kyoya stood near the door, eyes following Tsuna's movements. "I'll have to call Tetsuya to clean up the bodies later." Ryohei choked, and Mochida's eyes widened. "After all, that's the punishment for using that name to address Sawada Tsunayoshi." His lips twitched upward, and Takeshi knew it was an expression that meant the other teen was enjoying what he was seeing. He could easily see why. It was always really interesting when Tsuna fought seriously. Yamamoto just hoped they wouldn't need Tetsuya to clean up any bodies later in the day.

In less than five minutes, everything she knew about Sawada Tsunayoshi went completely out the window. The shy, timid, no-good boy from middle school was standing two paces away from her with Mochida-sempai under his shoe, and Mochida was whimpering like a baby, begging for mercy. Behind her she could swear she heard Hibari-san say something about pathetic herbivores, and Yamamoto-kun sighed, muttering that it really couldn't be helped. Tsuna delivered a sharp kick to the downed boy's side before speaking, "You're pathetic. I should kill you now, and give Tetsuya that body to clean up." A cruel smile flitted across his face. "He's good at that kind of stuff, didn't you know?" Mochida, as if his humiliation wasn't already enough, urinated all over himself. Kyoko almost felt bad for him—but not quite.

Tsuna snorted, shoving him again with his foot, "Pathetic." The kendo club looked amongst themselves nervously, not sure how to proceed now that their leader was down for the count.

"Tsunayoshi," Hibari said slowly, and a few of the kendo club members, including the ones holding Ryohei captive, bolted out the door, hoping to escape their punishment now that the fight was over—though Takeshi wondered if you could call such a one-sided thing a fight. (They had no idea that Hibari had his ways of tracking them down later.) Ryohei popped up almost immediately after he was left go, and Kyoko made her way over to him quickly.

"Onii-san!" she exclaimed. She was vaguely aware that she was crying, but these new tears were tears of happiness. "Oh," she said quietly, turning to look at Tsuna, who was still glaring down Mochida, who was quivering as though he was naked in a snow storm. "Sawada-san, t-thank you!" Ryohei nodded in agreement, adding his own _extreme_ thank you. Tsuna turned to them for a minute, his gaze finally off his enemy. The two waited for him to say something, but he remained silent for a long while before turning to Hibari.

"You can have Takeshi," he began, referring back to the promise for a lunch spar between the two. "I'm going home for the day. I feel unwell." Takeshi hesitated, attempting to follow his best friend to the door, but he was stopped by a well-placed tonfa.

"Don't think you can escape our fight, Yamamoto Takeshi." Takeshi sighed, exasperated.

"Why can't my friends address me by my first name? Tsuna calls me 'idiot' and you always call me by my full name. Such mean friends I have." He frowned suddenly, hand touching his sword softly, and said, "Is it really okay to leave him like that? He's upset."

"Tsunayoshi is not a weak herbivore," the Discipline Committee leader announced as though it was the answer to Yamamoto's question. Takeshi nodded before perking up to normal Yamamoto-happiness.

"How come you call him Tsunayoshi? You always add my family name!"

"You're delaying our fight," Hibari sounded bored. "I'll bite you to death."

"Hai, hai," Takeshi said with laugh, leading the way out of the dojo, leaving Kyoko and Ryohei to wonder on what had just occurred. To be honest, Ryohei was a little put out by Tsuna's attitude. When his _extremely_ cute younger sister said thank you, he had expected Tsuna to at least acknowledge her with a few words. Instead, the teenager had ignored them both and had left the dojo before either of them could get in another word. He could tell something else was going on that he didn't understand, but that only made him more determined.

"I've decided!" he said loudly, startling Kyoko a bit, who was wrapped up in her own thoughts. Her expression was questioning, and he followed up with a loud proclamation. "I will get Sawada Tsunayoshi to join the boxing club!" Kyoko smiled at her brother's determination, though she wasn't sure if he was making a good resolution or not.

**X**

Shoichi saw the woman struggle to carry her bags from the store and knew it wouldn't be much longer before her purchases ended up all over the pavement. He did what any nice young man would do—went over and helped before the worse occurred. "Oh!" the woman exclaimed. "Thank you!" Shoichi would have rubbed the back of his neck if his hands were free, but instead, a blush settled on his cheeks at the kind words that spewed forth from the woman's mouth. "You're such a nice young man! My son, he's sweet, of course, but sometimes I can't put my finger on it." She paused for a minute, and they continued walking towards, presumably, her house. "It's like he's unhappy about something all the time, but he won't tell me about it."

"Ah," Shoichi said quietly, not really sure what to say to this woman who was spilling the details of her son to him. He had no idea that the woman he was helping was none other than Sawada Nana, Tsuna's mother, and he certainly might have thought twice about helping her had he known that and what he was about to walk into. Shoichi lived on the same road that Takeshi and Tsuna used to get to school every day, and he, himself, attended Namimori high with them though, thankfully, he had never shared any classes with either of them. He had heard more than his fair share of rumors about their connections with the Discipline Committee and even the recent incident with Mochida that still caused the kendo captain to burst into tears when he heard Tsuna's name mentioned. The red-head didn't like to cause trouble or get involved with it so he avoided them like the plague—even if it meant adjusting his schedule in the morning so that he left later than the two did so they didn't see each other.

"I'm sorry for taking up so much of your time, ah," she frowned, not knowing his name.

"Shoichi Irie," he introduced. "It's nice to meet you." The woman smiled sweetly before introducing herself as well, and Shoichi's eyes widened almost comically.

"S-sawada?" he said quietly. Nana gave him a curious look, and they continued to walk. "Ano, your son wouldn't happen to be Tsunayoshi, would he?" The words came out a bit weak, and he could help the slight shiver that went down his spine. His stomach started hurting, too, a normal symptom of nervousness or anxiety for him.

"Ah! You know my Tsuna-kun!" Nana exclaimed. Shoichi's stomach dropped, and he could feel his soul leaving his body. He was traveling right into the territory of one of the most notorious delinquents at Namimori High! "Well, then Shoichi-kun, maybe you know why my son's been acting so strange lately."

"W-well, we're not in the same class so I don't really know," he managed to get out. Nana sighed, looking disheartened. "I'm sorry I can't be of more help," he said quickly. He couldn't exactly blurt out that her son was becoming well-known for his association with the violent lunatic Hibari Kyoya, or that her son was most well known for scaring Mochida-sempai for life—so much so that he mentioned having nightmares about Tsuna nightly. A part of Shoichi knew that the rumors were probably exaggerated, and Tsuna was probably a lot more normal that he was thinking, but he really wasn't sure his heart could handle meeting the other teenager in person.

As they turned the corner to Sawada-san's house, Shoichi felt his anticipation build even though he had no idea if the infamous Tsuna was home or not. He followed Nana a bit reluctantly and fully intended to bolt back home when it was appropriate for him to do so. "Come in, Shoichi-kun," Sawada-san said with a big smile, leading him to the kitchen where, conveniently enough, the object of Shoichi's fears was currently cooking dinner.

"Welcome home, Mama," a voice hollered, and Shoichi realized, a bit late, that the kitchen was occupied with several of his school's celebrities. There was Tsunayoshi, who still hadn't turned around, the well-known demon that haunted Mochida's dreams. Yamamoto Takeshi, once the best baseball player in Namimori Middle, Tsuna's right-hand man, known to take out opponents with a sword he carried with him everywhere—even during class since the principal of the high school deemed it alright. Takeshi was also the one to greet Nana when she first entered the kitchen. To his surprise, Sasagawa Ryohei was there as well, and as far as Shoichi knew, he was not friends with the two previously mentioned. In fact, he had seen Tsuna threaten the boxer with all kinds of obscene things in the morning when he followed Tsuna and Takeshi to school, demanding that Tsuna join the boxing club.

"Takeshi-kun!" Nana exclaimed happily. "It's so nice of you to help Tsuna with dinner! And Ryohei-kun, you're here, too!" Shoichi-kun shuffled quietly in the doorway, trying hard not to draw too much attention to himself.

"I came to convince Tsuna to join the boxing club!" Ryohei explained loudly, standing up and almost tipping the chair over. Tsuna turned around with an annoyed expression on his face as Takeshi hid a smile, chopping his potatoes quietly, knowing that Tsuna was holding back a rather impressive batch of insults he'd later unleash on Ryohei when they were no longer in Nana's presence.

"I already said _no_," Tsuna grit out and he slammed his knife into a stalk of green onions violently for good measure. Ryohei, obviously not deterred by the words or the display, went into a speech about how extreme Tsuna was, and how the only place for an extreme guy like him was in the boxing club. Shoichi, frightened by the knife show, decided that no one, much less Ryohei, was going to have a say in the "only place" for Tsuna. Suddenly, however, Tsuna's face cleared, "Ah, mom, you managed to get some help with those groceries, I see. Shoichi-kun, right?" Shoichi froze. Tsuna knew his name! Tsuna had just singled him out, and now everyone in Sawada-san's kitchen was staring at him! Weirder still, Tsuna expressions were _strange_. Well, not strange per say, but _tamer_ than he had expected.

Shoichi knew for a fact that Tsuna was a lot more violent naturally than he was acting in front of his mother, or at least, he thought so. For one, he hadn't threatened Ryohei who had clearly annoyed Tsuna enough that he slipped up and used the knife to release some steam. He had, in person, seen Tsuna beat up on Yamamoto on the way to school, and he had heard the story about Mochida-sempai. The teenager before Shoichi, smiling at his mother and himself, were not the same—not at all. It freaked him out a bit, to be honest. Which side was the real Tsuna? He must have been missing something critical.

Everyone was staring at him, he realized suddenly, waiting for him to say something. "A-ah! Yes. Shoichi Irie. Nice to meet you," he said, bowing and blushing simultaneously. "Ano," he began, almost bravely, "Tsuna-kun, how did you know my name?"

"Kyoya," Tsuna said calmly, "he keeps track of all students who have _useful_ hobbies. You're good with technology, right? He's got some stuff about you in the Discipline Committee office." He shrugged before going back to his onions, and Shoichi's mouth went dry. He was being tabbed! Wasn't there some kind of rule against that? Nana began to put up her groceries with a smile on her face, clearly convinced that Shoichi was going to be a nice addition to her son's tiny circle of friends. 'Takeshi, Kyoya, Ryohei, and now Shoichi,' she thought. 'They'll balance each other out nicely.' Shoichi was frozen where he stood, not sure what to do with the information he had just been given.

"Oi, Shoichi," Takeshi said suddenly, all smiles, "you should stay for dinner." Tsuna gave another one of those smiles that Shoichi can't decipher as real or not and nodded. Maybe this was the wrong Tsunayoshi, he thought. Maybe this one didn't get into fights and scare leaders of the kendo club. He'd be sure to find out soon. With Nana and Ryohei smiling and nodding, too, Shoichi can't help but give in. He sat down, not realizing that he had gotten himself into something much bigger than he could have imagined.

**X**

Tsuna ended up being the side Shoichi feared, but he quickly found that there were certain things that triggered his violent behavior. Luckily for him, Shoichi possessed very little traits or habits that led to such bouts of bloodshed. Some had a natural knack for annoying Tsuna, like Takeshi or Ryohei, and others simply did stupid things that made Tsuna transform into the dark creature Mochida had faced in the dojo. Shoichi found that being friends with Tsuna ended up being a lot easier and pain free than he thought, _if_ he avoided Hibari.

"If he calls you an herbivore he doesn't like you," Tsuna explained, tossing him a bottle of alcohol and some bandages. Takeshi snorted and hid a laugh in the back of his hand. Like always, his sword was at his side, ready. Shoichi wondered if he slept with it nearby. He didn't doubt that it was a probable possibility. Everyone associated with Tsuna seemed ready for a fight—except for him.

"Doesn't he call everyone an herbivore?" Shoichi mumbled before dabbing some alcohol on the wounds on his arms. He winced at the sharp stinging that followed, but Takeshi smiled at him comfortingly before patting his shoulder like the nice guy he was.

"Everyone except Tsuna," the swordsman said, "and me—sometimes. I wouldn't worry about it too much. Just try and stay out of his way, and if you value your life, don't crowd the hallways after school. Other than that, he's a real likeable guy." Shoichi gaped at him for a minute, and he realized why it was that Tsuna was continually calling the other teenager an idiot. Likeable? Hibari Kyoya? Tsuna elbowed Yamamoto in the gut, causing the boy to double over. "T-that wasn't very nice, Tsuna-kun!" Somehow, he was managing to smile through the pain, and Shoichi for the life of him couldn't understand why.

"He's a masochist," Hibari's voice explained easily from behind him, and Shoichi shot a foot in the air before scrambling to get away from the tonfa-wielder. "This is the herbivore?" Shoichi's stomach felt like it was going to implode, and he wasn't sure how much more of this he could take. Being friends with Tsuna was hazardous! And it wasn't exactly Tsuna he felt he need to fear, but just the people and things that occurred around him. Takeshi straightened up beside him, fully recovered from the blow Tsuna dealt him a few moments before. These people weren't _human_, Shoichi thought miserably, they couldn't be.

"This is Shoichi Irie," Takeshi introduced. "If you could, deal as little damage to him as possible in the future?" The Discipline Committee stared at the swordsman for a long while, unblinking, his expression blank. Shoichi was grateful that Takeshi was trying to protect him, but he was pretty sure asking Hibari nicely not to beat him up in the future wasn't going to work.

"I've said so before," Hibari began, his eyes narrowing as he spoke, "that I don't take orders from you, Yamamoto Takeshi." The ex-baseball player rubbed the back of his head, and then went on a little tangent about his friends not being nice enough to call him 'Takeshi'. Shoichi hadn't noticed it until then, but none of Takeshi's friends called him by his first name. Tsuna called him an idiot. Hibari, from their short conversation, addressed him either as an herbivore or by his full name. Ryohei called him Yamamoto-kun as far as he knew. Shoichi, himself, still addressed everyone by their last name. Perhaps he should be the nice one and start the trend, he thought briefly.

Tsuna snorted somewhere in the middle of his speech before redirecting the conversation back to its source, "You can beat him up if he's disruptive or damages public property, but if you wouldn't mind, avoid biting him to death unnecessarily. We'll probably start training him soon since Takeshi's bent on keeping him." Shoichi wondered when he had gone from friend to puppy, and his heart shuddered at the thought of this mysterious "training". When it came to this group it was always about violence, and he wasn't cut out for it! The teenager had paused for a long moment and a sinister smirk crossed his face. "Sasagawa Ryohei on the other hand."

"Aw, Tsuna," Yamamoto said with a grin, "you know you like the guy. Not to mention, he's quite strong. Kyoya's fond of him." Hibari raised an eyebrow as if to say, 'when did I say such an herbivorish thing?' Shoichi wondered if hell would be similar to this situation.

**X**

He was waiting for his "friends" so they could start this secret training that had been mentioned the day before and had been so busy being afraid about what the day would bring that he was completely unaware. It was then that he was assaulted. The red-head squawked in an undignified manner as he fell and looked up to see a girl wearing a fancy high-class uniform and weird bandana across her face. Her eyes were boring into him, and Shoichi can't remember having ever met her before in his life. "Ah, can I help you?" he tried, attempting to get up. A foot slammed him back to the pavement.

"Stay away from my Tsuna-kun!" she said, shoving an unopened umbrella in his face.

"W-what?" he managed to get out, looking at the girl as if she were crazy—and he would later decide that he had initially been correct on that thought. The foot slammed him down again, and he winced. He had never been picked on this much until he met Tsuna. It was getting a bit ridiculous.

"I'll kill you! I will! Someone like Tsuna-kun, he's—" she began to drift off into a daydream, her eyes faraway. Shoichi laid back on the pavement, determined to cease struggling seeing as it normally ended in more injuries. Maybe this was all some crazy dream and he'd wake up soon to his mother's shrill voice telling him it was time for breakfast. Maybe there wasn't any special, secret training waiting for him today. Maybe this crazy, psycho girl was all a figment of his imagination. 'My overactive, painful imagination,' he grumbled to himself. 'Why would I put myself through all this—even subconsciously?' Nope, he acknowledged, this was reality.

"Who are you, anyway?" Shoichi asked. "I've never seen you with Tsuna-san before."

The girl struck a weird superhero-esque pose before speaking. "Hahi! My name's Haru Miura, and one day I'm going to be Tsuna-kun's bride!" Then she broke off into a fit of giggles. Shoichi hoped to every deity ever prayed to in human history that Tsuna never met this girl, or he'd probably end up murdering an entire city block.

"Oi! Shoichi! An _extreme_ good morning to you!"

"Good morning, Ryohei," he grumbled. He glanced at Haru, giving her an exasperated look, "Could you let me up, please? I'm not trying to steal Tsuna from you, I swear." She gave him a calculating look before nodding, and he got up slowly, hoping there would be no further abuse that day.

"Tsuna-kun, huh?" Ryohei began. "I have resolved to become his _extreme_ friend! And then maybe, someday soon, he'll join the boxing club." Haru smiled at him, clapping her hands excitedly as he explained his plan. Just as Ryohei finished his speech, a foot collided with his stomach, sending him flying.

"Not likely, idiot," Tsuna snapped, brushing his hands off, looking disgusted.

"_Extremely_ good kick, Tsuna!" Ryohei exclaimed a little later from the ground. He was up in an instant, complimenting the smaller boy's form and demanding him to join the boxing club, and Shoichi could see the vein in Tsuna's head throbbing with every word. Tsuna looked about ready to deliver another kick when Takeshi ran up, a duffle-bag in hand. "Oi! Yamamoto," Ryohei called, "_extremely_ good morning to you!" Takeshi smiled, laughing a bit at the loudness of their friend—even if Tsuna would swear up and down that he wasn't friends with the boxing psycho.

Takeshi noticed Haru first, greeting her warming, "One of Shoichi's friends?" Haru blushed and nodded. Shoichi muttered under his breath—something about crazy lying weirdos. Haru kicked his shin though a smile, and if anyone in the group noticed, they didn't say anything.

"Hahi! I'm Haru Miura," she introduced. Takeshi, being the nicest out of the group, introduced everyone. Shoichi didn't fail to notice the weird, lovey-dovey expression she got on her face when Tsuna was introduced—even though the teenager was planting a foot in Ryohei's chest repeatedly and ignoring the rest of them. The red-head didn't say so, but he could see how Haru and Tsuna would get along. Did violence make a good relationship? He wasn't sure he wanted to find out.

"Oi, Tsuna, shouldn't we be telling Shoichi about his training?" Takeshi said, pulling him away from Ryohei with the same happy smile on his face. Shoichi supposed it was plausible that Takeshi's face was permanently stuck that way, but when he heard those words he tensed up, and Yamamoto's facial expressions became the least of his problems. Tsuna was smiling again, but this time, this time it was the smile of a _demon_.

'Help!' Shoichi whimpered. Suddenly he was not entirely sure he was going to make it out of high school alive.


	4. The Forbidden Name Spoken Twice

**The Rebirth of Dame-Tsuna**

**Chapter 4**

**Vescaria**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.

**Warnings**: OOC!Tsuna, AU, Canon!Rape, Righthand!Yamamoto, Yaoi (maybe…probably), and lots of other things.

**Notes for the Reviewers**: Since Shoichi's already in the story, yes, the Future Arc's going to be a little screwed up, but I'm not going to do without it completely. I'm raping canon here, and not even the future will escape unscathed! I felt I should mention that I made Kyoya the same age as the rest of the gang, around sixteen. When they meet Reborn they're all in the beginning of their second year of high school. Yes, I enjoy tormenting Shoichi! He's too adorable to be nice to, poor guy. Someone mentioned that Tsuna's like Gokudera, and I have to agree to a point. They both have something to prove, and maybe it's just me, but I can see distinct differences in the two. Tsuna's more of a leader type—where he goes the people go. That much hasn't changed from the original canon.

**X**

From the top of Hibari's roof he could easily see the shopping district where his mother regularly went to buy groceries. Today, with her were two rather new fixtures in her life—Shoichi Irie and Sasagawa Ryohei. Both were friends with her son, though he may deny it if asked, and she was especially glad to know that her son had chosen such a polite and helpful bunch to befriend. She, of course, was unaware of a few things involving her son's new friends. For example, she had no idea that the two boys currently sacrificing their time to go to the grocery store with her were really sent by Tsuna with express instructions to remain with her at all times while she was out of the house. She also had no idea that these two had been following a similar training regime as Takeshi and Tsuna since they had met her son. Perhaps the most frightening thing was the fact that Shoichi's hand kept itching for the sidearm tucked into the waist of his pants, hidden away by his coat.

When the "secret" training session began in some secluded area near Hibari's house all those moons ago, Shoichi found himself sifting through the duffle bag Yamamoto had carried in horror. 'Is half of these even legal to have in Japan?' he wondered in fear, holding up a pair of brass knuckles that had something that looked suspiciously like dried blood on them. Needless to say, he wasn't particularly keen on being _trained_, and he spent the greater part of the day attempting to sneak away to his _much safer_ house. Of course, Shoichi didn't get a chance to escape, and Takeshi, the nicest out of the entire group, told him with a smile to pick whatever felt right! Hysterically, he managed to sputter out that he wanted nothing to do with it and would rather not "try out" their most likely illegal merchandise, thank you very much. Tsuna had snorted, giving him a look that would freeze any normal human's blood, and Shoichi squeaked, his hands clenching around the first thing in the duffle bag he touched. Oh the joys of peer pressure.

That first weapon ended up being a bullwhip, and things quickly snowballed shortly after. By the time he was released from his personal hell, he was so tired and so beat up that he didn't even have the strength to cry. Even Takeshi looked a little frustrated with his progress or, rather, lack thereof. They had forced just about every weapon in the duffle bag into his hands, and he had been a failure with all of them. A large majority of his injuries, he thought bitterly, were self-inflicted. Halfway through, Tsuna had stopped suggesting weapons completely—remaining completely silent for the rest of the day. Ryohei had continued to cheer for him from the side, continually telling him to be _extreme_. Takeshi suggested going on instinct, and that "instinct", he was sure, was going to lead to his _death_. He didn't want to fight! He _couldn't _fight! Why did he get cursed with such a randy, violent group of delinquents who called themselves his "friends"?

That night he shut himself in his room, refused his dinner, and tinkered with his computer all night in an attempt to take his mind off what tomorrow would probably bring with it. He had just started playing a particularly childish dating game when his window slid open quietly without his notice. "Shoichi Irie," a voice said over the shrill sounds of the game's main character, a busty pink-haired ditz. The red-head jumped sharply at the sound, turned red in embarrassment, and made a desperate, clumsy attempt to shut off the game. His heart almost exploded out of his chest when he saw Hibari Kyoya crouched in his window, his eyes narrowed calculatingly.

"H-Hibari-san!" he managed to say, feeling faint. Hadn't he suffered enough? The Discipline Committee leader stared at him for a moment before reaching for something beneath his school blazer—that he had somehow made look much cooler than normal. Shoichi's stomach whined, and he was almost positive he was going to be on the receiving end of a beating via tonfa, but just as he closed his eyes and curled in on himself, all he heard was an annoyed sigh.

"Herbivore," Hibari began, and Shoichi opened one eye slowly and relaxed just a tiny bit. "Tsunayoshi requested that I retrieve this for you." Something was laid on his windowsill, and Shoichi's mind started overloading.

"T-that's—I can't take that!" he managed to blurt out loudly. Hibari glared at him, both hands reaching for those tonfas Shoichi feared so much.

"Herbivore," he warned, "I refuse to tolerate such noisiness." The red-head squeaked and muttered a quick string of apologies. His eyes flickered to the item on the sill and then back to Hibari. The black-haired teenager gave him a quick once over, not impressed, before turning to leave. He paused only once, "Remind Tsunayoshi that he owes me a favor for this service." Shoichi shivered at the implications before turning to his biggest problem sitting so innocently on his windowsill, its metal surface gleaming in the moonlight.

A gun.

Tsuna had told Hibari to get him a _gun_. Against his better judgment, he reached for it. His mind raced through many different thoughts at a mile a minute pace. _How_ in the world had Hibari gotten something like this? And why in the world would Tsuna have requested him to do so? Did they really expect him to actually use it! Then the scientific geek in him reacted, and, against his better judgment, he went to his desk to retrieve his miniature tool kit. When presented with something mechanical he couldn't let it out of his hands without seeing how it worked, so he set off to work, his stomach still pained, taking the "gift" apart—mumbling to himself and taking notes as he went. He'd give it back tomorrow, he thought to himself resolutely, and he'd make sure to stand his ground this time.

Stepping out of the house made him feel nervous, and the constant fear of someone discovering the gun he had wrapped up in his jacket under his arm made him jittery. He had sworn to himself before walking outside that he would give the gun back to Tsuna _no matter what_. Shoichi also wouldn't mention the tiny modifications he made to the gun when he put it back together early that morning. At first he had intended to merely examine it, but when Shoichi saw things to improve on, he couldn't help himself. Really, he mused, whoever had made the gun must have been stupid to make some of the mistakes they had. The gun was a lot more efficient now, but he wasn't bragging.

"Good morning, Shoichi!" Takeshi startled him out his thoughts. Tsuna was with him, that really sleazy smirk on his face, and the red-head had a feeling that the other teen felt as though he had already won this round. Instead, Shoichi squared his shoulders and thrust his jacket in Tsuna's direction.

"I refuse!" he shouted loudly. Tsuna gave him an incredulous look, and Takeshi looked between the two of them curiously. "I-I don't want to fight! So please take this," he added more quietly, and he noticed that his hands were shaking a little. Tsuna, to his surprise, didn't hit him or snap at him, but he merely took the jacket (with its hidden cargo) and sifted through the fabric until the metal of the gun's exterior was visible. Shoichi felt a fear coarse through him as Tsuna lifted it up casually, hand fitting around it easily. Tsuna examined the gun for a moment, as Takeshi watched confused, before speaking.

"You _modified _it, didn't you?" his voice was smug. Shoichi's jaw dropped. Could the other teen tell just by looking at it? Nothing on the outside should have given away the fact that he had taken it apart to examine it, and all the modifications he had done were on the interior of the gun. The red-head realized too late that his face had obviously been the one to betray him. "So I was right," Tsuna said. "Kyoya told me you'd never accept a weapon—especially not this. But this kind of thing always peaks your interest, ne?" Tsuna waved the gun lazily. Shoichi had been played! He liked tinkering with complicated things, and Tsuna had picked one of the most complicated weapons on the market, rightly thinking it would interest him.

"J-just because you're right doesn't mean that I'm going to fight with it! I was just interested in the scientific value of the mechanism!" he defended quickly, attempting to dig himself out of his hole. Takeshi laughed loudly, an easy smile on his face.

"You should try it out," he suggested enthusiastically as though they were talking about something normal, something not dealing with illegal weaponry. "Can't hurt to try, right?" Hanging his head in defeat, Shoichi muttered a quiet affirmation, and somehow, he was sure that Tsuna knew this was how it was going to go all along.

Despite the fact that Tsuna had managed to get him to use a weapon pretty much against his will, the honey-eyed male could not cure him of his hesitation. Shoichi wagered he was the weakest out of the group, and Tsuna had once calmly told him that he wasn't concerned. _"You're lacking intent not skill," he had said._ Everyone seemed convinced that in the right situation he would shine through for them—well, everyone minus Hibari but that guy didn't put much faith in anyone. Shoichi settled for being the weakest link if it meant he didn't have to regularly go out and pick fights with unscrupulous characters. He'd even willingly put up with Haru if he had to, to avoid a brawl.

He didn't like to admit it, but he was glad. Sure, his friends were insane, and Tsuna was a demon in the flesh. Yet, he had friends, if you called them that, and no one in their right mind picked on him anymore for being a geek. Tsuna couldn't have thought him to be completely useless either, he mused, if he was requesting him to escort his mother around. Shoichi supposed that no matter how much Tsuna denied it, their un-official leader thought of them as friends and put a great deal of trust in them.

"Ah, Shoichi-kun," Nana said worriedly, "is something wrong? You stopped." Shoichi rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, shaking his head. He would never say so to "Mama", as Takeshi called her, but something strange was going on. He had no idea what since Tsuna wasn't talking, but there was something the shorter teen was preparing for. And if it was Tsuna, Shoichi thought to himself, there was no doubt it was going to be dangerous.

Tsuna's eyes followed them until they disappeared into the store before he turned back to Hibari, who had a cup of steaming tea in his hands. So far, Tsuna was the only one who had an open invitation to the boy's house, and even then, such an invitation came with strict obligations. "Have you found out anything?" the smaller male asked, his eyes flickering back to the street every now and then.

"These herbivores trailing you haven't made any interesting moves," Hibari began. "Their daily routines are being monitored by Tetsuya, and he said there's been no change since you called the last time." He took a slow sip of his beverage before training a sharp eye on Tsuna. They shared a look, and Tsuna sighed in understanding.

"I won't bother you unless it's well worth your time," he said. "I'll let Takeshi and the rest handle it if they can." Hibari nodded, before turning away and heading into the house. There was no way he could entice Hibari to fight unless it interested him, and unless these stalkers of his were strong there was no way he'd ever convince Hibari to lower himself to fight them. There wasn't really any point in trying, and Tsuna was confident that Takeshi could handle it. His friend wasn't a pushover after all, maybe an idiot but certainly not a pushover.

Checking his cell phone, he cracked his neck before heading back down onto the street. Ryohei and Shoichi could handle watching his mother. He'd go and blow off some steam with Takeshi, and maybe his life would finally gain some normality again. Tsuna had been running around—figuratively—attempting to get information on his stalkers, and it was taking its toll. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he made his way down the stairs of Hibari's house, through the main hall, and out the door. Maybe he should take a nap? 'Before or after I beat up on Takeshi? Hmm,' he wondered, weighing the benefits of both options.

"Oi!" someone shouted. Tsuna turned slightly. Some teenager with silver hair and a cigarette was giving him an impressive glare. Next to him a blonde with a calculating look was standing casually, hands in his pockets. Tsuna stopped completely, raising an eyebrow at them. 'Ah, stalkers located,' he thought and wondered briefly if Hibari was perhaps watching from his roof. He had, after all, not walked far before being verbally accosted. "Ch," the smoker said, "I refuse to accept someone like you as the Tenth!" Tsuna wondered if he was supposed to feel insulted by such an odd declaration.

"If that's all," Tsuna snorted, before continuing on his way, "I'll be leaving."

"Such a nuisance," the teen continued, "as if someone as cowardly as you could take over the Vongola family." As soon as the words were in the open, Tsuna stopped again. His fingers twitched, and he wanted nothing more to retrieve his kusarigama so that could rip the bastard's throat out. He had worked hard to become this new self, this new person who didn't get pushed around by anyone, who didn't get bullied just because he existed. He was no longer a failure. He was no longer weak. How dare anyone say otherwise after all the things he had done to become this strong. He turned slowly, facing this enemy completely, and the other seemed a bit surprised. However, the expression of disgust returned quickly, and he continued his tirade. "Someone like you isn't fit to lead the Vongola, and I'll prove it by _killing you_."

"Maa, that may be a problem," a new voice shouted good-naturedly. "See, you'll have to fight me, the best friend, first." Behind the winning smile, Takeshi hid some rather ugly feelings that he was _almost_ ashamed of harboring. He liked people—more than Tsuna definitely—but he couldn't let this guy get away without punishment. No one called Tsuna weak. That was the unspoken rule, and Takeshi knew he had to defend his friend's honor, even if some of the things coming out of the smoker's mouth didn't make any sense to him. The blonde beside the loud-mouth frowned a little, reaching for something, when something, a bullet encased in pale green flames, whizzed past his right cheek. A trickle of blood oozed from a tiny cut a few seconds later.

"Oi, Tsuna-san," Shoichi said, running up a minute later, a determined look on his face, gun in hand. "Hibari called me a minute ago and said you'd need me here." Tsuna remained silent, his eyes trained unblinkingly at the silver-haired teenager standing across from them. Shoichi couldn't say he'd ever seen such a serious expression on his face, not one like that. It was like he was trying to kill with his eyes, and he shivered a bit, glad that the gaze wasn't directed at him.

"Ch, doesn't matter how many dogs you have trained," the louder one said, "I'll kill you all. Takeshi swung his Shigure Kintoki expertly, and the blonde's gaze widened a tad when the bamboo sword faded into metal in an instant. Takeshi took a step forward when Tsuna spoke quietly.

"Takeshi," he paused, gaze hardening painfully, "don't go easy on him."

The ex-baseball player didn't even nod, just stepped into battle. Tsuna was his best friend, his first really good friend in fact. They had come a long way from that afternoon in the gym when they were two defenseless guys who weren't even really friends yet. He was aware that many couldn't understand their relationship with one another, couldn't understand how he put up with his friend's playful—and sometimes not—abuse. His opponent tossed something at him, dynamite he realized, and he cut through the wicks quickly, not playing the nice guy in this fight, not allowing the other to have any advantages. He had given up baseball for his best friend because he had come to understand that some things were more important than a mere game. It was for this reason that he fought, and it was for this reason that he had no mercy on this smoker who so blatantly attacked his friend's strength.

There was panic rising in the other's eyes as he advanced, cutting through the projectiles as he went. The first waves were in tens, and now his enemy was throwing over two or three dozen sticks at a time. He was fumbling, becoming clumsy, and Yamamoto could easily see himself feeling bad for him in any other situation. Yet, Tsuna had given him one of _those_ orders. He couldn't go easy on this guy. Unlit and lit sticks of dynamite hit the ground in a clatter, and Yamamoto struck his enemy hard in the stomach with the hilt of his sword. The silver-haired boy fell to his knees, coughing and struggling to draw air back into his winded lungs. Yamamoto stepped on the last lit wick, before point his blade at the offender's chest. Awe and fear were clear in his eyes, but Takeshi kept his face blank.

An unforgiveable sin. That's what it was.

This one would have to jump through many a hoop to even begin to make up things with his best friend. "You're strangely unskilled for someone with such a big mouth," he commented coolly. The downed man bristled in anger, looking strangely like Tsuna. "You don't have any idea how lucky you are that I was your opponent," He shifted his blade closer to the other, a warning.

Shoichi, in the mean time, was having a hard time against the blonde. His opponent's weapon of choice was, ironically, a whip, and he wasn't sure how to counter without severely injuring the other. It might have been easier for Shoichi if the man had insulted Tsuna, too, since it would have given him a valid reason to act as Yamamoto was, but this guy had remained silent. And, boy, Shoichi thought, was it hard to be on the defensive with a gun. It was especially hard to be defensive with a gun if you didn't even have a gun, he thought hopelessly, watching his weapon go sailing as his hands were ensnared by his opponent's whip. He was tugged sharply, landing front first on the pavement, and he winced at the hard fall. 'I'm going to be feeling this in the morning,' he thought though the pain.

A gunshot sounded, and Shoichi's eyes widened when the whip was hit, effected shredding through the material. He scrambled to his feet to see that his gun was still on the ground. Then who had—

"Dame-Tsuna," a tiny voice announced, and the world seemed to freeze. Takeshi's eyes widened and he ignored his opponent to try and meet the gaze of his best friend. Tsuna was rigid; his face was contorted into a severely unpleasant scowl, and Takeshi could just see the teenager's resolve snapping into pieces just like it had that day in the dojo. One day, he thought, they'd have to actually call Tetsuya for that body clean up. "Very typical of you to leave the fighting to your friends," the tiny _baby_ said, a green gun in hand still position in the same place it had been in to shoot through the blonde's whip. The gun, to Shoichi's surprise, turned into a green lizard and settled on the baby's hat, and then said baby hopped down from the ledge he had been on to walk closer to them. "It would seem we have a lot of work to do."

Takeshi found it hard to comprehend that a baby was now not only the one who fired the shot through the whip but also the one to call Tsuna by _that _name. He wondered if Tsuna will take in account that the person who used _that_ name was a baby. Probably not. The only thing Tsuna registered in that moment was a deep loathing for the baby before him, an absolute hatred that ebbed and flowed quickly through his veins. Instead of acting like Takeshi feared, Tsuna turned on his heel and walked away, though his friends could see his hand clenching and unclenching rhythmically.

"Ah, Tsuna!" the blonde finally spoke, a strangely concerned expression on his face. Takeshi moved away from the silver-haired teen, his sword fading back into bamboo, and Shoichi scrambled to get his gun. Both quickly followed their friend, worried at what he might do in the following moments. It was the smoker who spoke first after that, breathing a sigh of relief.

"That was the Tenth," he whispers in awe. The Tenth who didn't know he was the Tenth, yet, and already, the blonde mused, he was surrounded by all sorts of interesting and promising characters. However, the baby didn't look as impressed, his mouth fixed in a small frown. "Reborn?" the teenager said questioningly. "I'm sorry about that. I didn't do well against that guy at all." He bowed his head a bit in shame, looking disappointed. He had really hoped to impress the Tenth or even beat him. Instead, he had lost to not even the Tenth but one of the Tenth's protective friends.

"He was quite good," the blonde said sympathetically. A dark-haired man no one noticed during the fight, moveed closer to them, to stand by his boss. "You did as well as you could have, Hayato. You've got plenty of time to improve on your technique." He frowned deeply, "Reborn, this isn't what you expected."

"We'll have to reassess Sawada Tsunayoshi soon, Dino," the baby replied. "I can't use the same training technique I used with you." He paused for a moment. "I wasn't expecting him to have some family members already lined up either—with such a unique array of skills." All that together, Dino mused, made this whole situation a lot less fun and a lot more troublesome.

**X**

They ended up at the sushi restaurant with a concerned Tsuyoshi watching them as he prepared some of his food. Tsuna's face was blank, his hands clenched, and Takeshi was at his wit's end attempting to cheer him up. The only thing to cure this mood would be a fight, and he wasn't sure the person who ended up being Tsuna's opponent would escape a hospital visit. "Tsuna," Takeshi began quietly, "why did that guy call you the Tenth?" He carefully avoided any mention of the baby who had _really_ put Tsuna in a mood. Shoichi was curious as well, but he was a bit ashamed that he was the one to lose his fight. Again, he noted, his lack of willpower had come and bit him in the behind.

Tsuna's lip curled, and he ignored the sushi placed before him. "I have no idea what that _bastard_ meant, Takeshi," he snapped, standing up suddenly. "I'm going home." He nodded once to Tsuyoshi, before walking briskly to the door. Shoichi and Takeshi exchanged a look before following. The swordsman wasn't comfortable with letting his friend suffer in silence no matter how strong Hibari claimed him to be, and Shoichi respected Tsuna too much to stay behind. When they caught up to Tsuna, the upset teenager didn't speak. They walked in silence to the Sawada household and found Ryohei was waiting for them. As usual, Ryohei greeted Tsuna in his extreme, loud voice, but surprisingly, Tsuna remained silent and didn't so much as glare at him.

"Tsuna-kun! We have guests," Nana exclaimed from the kitchen. "Papa sent them to check up on you from Italy." Tsuna bit back the harsh retort that his father was supposedly "missing" and opted for ignoring their _guests _instead. His friends were behind him, their eyes wide as they surveyed the scene before them. Nana hadn't noticed all the negative energy circulating in the room and had begun to introduce them, "This is Gokudera Hayato. You'll be going to the same school with Tsuna-kun, right?" The silver-haired smoker they had encountered earlier ducked his head and nodded sharply. She moves over to the blonde and an older dark-haired man they've never seen before next. "This is Dino and one of his workers, Romario. They run a business your father's company is partners with." Finally, she moved over to the baby, sipping tea out of one of their family's ceramic cups. "And this is Reborn. Papa sent him to teach you some leadership skills so you'll be able to take over the family business. Am I right?"

"Hai, Mama," the baby replies, and his eyes locked with Tsuna's. "Ciaossu," he added in greeting, a small smile on his face. Takeshi remembered the next moment vividly for the rest of his life as the first time Tsuna ever acted like his normal self in front of his mother.

"Absolutely not," Tsuna hissed, his eyes never leaving the baby's. "I have nothing to learn from these people, least of all _him_." He jabbed a finger in Reborn's direction before darting out of the kitchen quickly, going up to his room. Nana shouted after him, surprised at her son's behavior, before turning to apologize to her guests.

"I don't know what came over him," she muttered, a concerned look painted across her face.

Ryohei, being the most thoroughly confused and the boldest, spoke first, "Oi! What's going on? Aren't those guys your _extreme_ guests?" Shoichi sighed, rubbing his stomach a little, feeling a stomachache coming along. Takeshi was frowning, eyes trained on Tsuna's still form as he sat on the bed, glaring at his hands. Shoichi quietly explained to Ryohei that Sawada-san's "guests" attacked them earlier during the day, and the expression on the boxer's face changed a little more with each passing second. "Outrageous! Tsuna is _extreme_! I've seen it with my own eyes!" the teen got louder with every word. Takeshi turned to him and smiled weakly.

"Tsuna," he began, "you should stay over at my house, ne? I'll get the old man to serve us some good stuff." There was an unspoken promise that a fight would come before the food, but he knew that Tsuna was already aware of that. Tsuna looked at him for a minute and his eyes went cloudy for a moment before he drew in a deep breath, releasing it slowly.

"Don't be so sappy, idiot," the words were shakier than normal. "I don't need your comfort. I'm going only to make sure you don't get lazy with your training." Takeshi laughed, smile coming back with full force. Tsuna stood, shoving some clothes in a bag, before reaching for his kusarigama. It would be a rough night, Takeshi thought; however, just as they are about to crawl out the window to make their escape, there was a knock on the door. Tsuna was half out the window, Takeshi and everyone else behind him, when the "guests" entered the room. Takeshi was the only one to notice that Tsuna's hold on the chain of his weapon tightened painfully.

"Running away, _Dame-Tsuna_?" the baby said with a smirk. Takeshi's smile fell away again, and Dino's frowned. Gokudera hung to the back, and no one was able to get a good look at his face as the exchange took place.

"Your insults are getting a little pathetic, don't you think?" Tsuna snapped. Reborn pushed his hat up a little so it was easier to look up at Tsuna, who still hadn't moved from his position at the window. Ryohei, for once in his life, was being quiet, not sure what so make of these people who were insulting his _extreme_ friend, and Shoichi's got an itch to reach for his gun. Yet, this baby was a lot more than he seemed, and he knew it would probably be a terrible idea so he stayed his hand.

"Struck a nerve?" Reborn counters, the essence of calm. "It wouldn't bother you so much if there weren't some truth to it."

Tsuna's knuckles had gone stark white around the chain, Takeshi noted, and a deep, primal fear echoed through him. The guy just didn't know when to let up, and Tsuna, his best friend, was struggling to keep from going in for the kill. Takeshi knew he wouldn't attempt anything in the house, not when Mama could walk in at any time. "Your words are unfounded," Tsuna growled. "I don't have to answer to the likes of you."

A gun was suddenly in the baby's hand, and Shoichi felt a trill of fear when he heard the familiar sound that signaled an impending shot. Tsuna looked unconcerned, and then the baby spoke, aiming the gun in Tsuna's direction, "Wrong." The fire would have hit their host directly in the forehead, but Tsuna had gotten good at deflecting bullets. It helped that he had a friend whose weapon of choice was a gun. The bullet, Takeshi noticed when Tsuna redirected it with the kama, had a familiar flaming-sort of aura like Shoichi's bullets did if you paid attention.

Gokudera peeked out from his spot behind Dino in the doorway, and there was an awed look on his face again. Before anyone else can more or speak, he had prostrated himself before Tsuna. "Tenth! I'm so sorry for what I said! You're definitely worthy to become the boss of the Vongola Famiglia. I'll follow you!" The declaration rang out for a long time before anyone said anything.

Tsuna's gaze turned to him slowly, "Why would I want someone so pathetic to follow me?" Then he was gone, the sound of clinking chains following him. Takeshi briefly toyed with the idea of asking what exactly all this "Vongola" business was about, but he figured it would be best left to Tsuna. He did acknowledge, quite fondly, that Tsuna would make quite a worthy boss, but that thought was best left to himself.

His friend's things were in his room when he returned home, though said friend and said friend's kusarigama were nowhere to be found. If Tsuna was as pissed off as Takeshi suspected there was only one person he'd be with, and it was best just to let them go at it for a while. It would most like help Tsuna's mood, to fight Kyoya. That's not to say, however, that he wasn't worried. It was hard not to worry when Tsuna was acting so peculiar, his mood fluctuating, and his emotional mask slipping in front of Mama. Someone had addressed him as Dame-Tsuna twice in one day, and what a stab it was to have it be someone who was supposed to be a friend of your father. The swordsman sat on his bed, and it occurred to him that he had never seen Tsuna's dad, hadn't even heard a peep about him. That posed a question.

What kind of man was Tsuna's father?

**X**

If Hibari was concerned, he didn't show it. Blood was dripping from his left arm, a wound he had received from a particular vicious swipe of Tsuna's sickle. The smaller boy wasn't even letting up an inch, his ears pounding, the words that _baby_ had spoken ringing in his ears over and over, like a satanic chant. He'd never felt so angry in his life, not even with people like Mochida. They had at least known him when he was pathetic way back when, but that Reborn, he didn't know a thing. "Tch," he hissed at the thought, twisting to avoid a tonfa in the side. He was getting all worked up over a stupid _baby_. 'What the hell is going on with me,' he thought angrily, attempting to reign in his emotions.

His brain shut down when he heard those familiar phrases, those reminders of the years before he and Takeshi had become friends, before he could fight for himself. A baby shouldn't be able to make him feel so upset, and he took a deep breath, sending the chain of his weapon flying at Hibari's right arm. Hibari's eyes were following him intently, "Are you feeling better, Tsunayoshi? Your attacks have been a lot more violent than usual." Tsuna was suddenly aware that they were bleeding a lot more than normal, and he cursed his inability to get over that name, that _stupid_ nickname.

"Damn," he cursed quietly, relaxing his hold on his weapon. Hibari stood down, snorting.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi," the Discipline Committee leader said quietly, "you better not return here until you intend to fight me properly." Tsuna slid to the ground, glad for Kyoya's odd brand of comfort. When he went to Takeshi's he was going to get it, and that big sap was probably going to go on a tirade about their friendship in one of those weird attempts to make him feel better. _Idiot._ He sat there for a little while, watching the moon shine light onto the top of Hibari's roof, trying to return to himself. After a long while, he stood and brushed himself off. 'If this doesn't wipe that dumb smile of that idiot's face,' Tsuna thought humorlessly, feeling the blood drip down his face, 'then I have no idea what will.'

Unsurprisingly, his best friend wasn't smiling when he slipped into Takeshi's room, and he got bandaged without a single word. The swordsman's lips were pursed in a thin line, and Tsuna knew he wanted to say something about his recklessness. Instead, the other teenager remained silent right up until they're just about to fall asleep. "Oi, Tsuna," Takeshi whispered, "that baby, Reborn, he's wrong about you. You're probably a lot stronger than any of us—even Kyoya." The ex-baseball player paused a long while before speaking again. "I know I wouldn't mind calling someone like you my boss." Tsuna aimed a pillow at his friend's face, glad the room was dark or else the idiot would see the flush on his face before kicking him.

"Shut up, moron, and go to sleep before you say something else stupid," Tsuna grumbled. He'd never admit to it, but Takeshi always seemed to know exactly what to say to make him feel better. The _idiot._


	5. Of Spring and New Mafia Bosses

**The Rebirth of Dame-Tsuna**

**Chapter 5**

**Vescaria**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.

**Warnings**: OOC!Tsuna, AU, Canon!Rape, Righthand!Yamamoto, Yaoi (maybe…probably), and lots of other things.

**Notes for the Reviewers**: About Tsuna's weaponry, yes, he'll end up using the gloves, but at the moment he's going through a particularly violent streak—represented by the kusarigama (sickle with the chain and weight). There will be a significant meaning behind it soon enough, or at least, I have something planned out that revolves around the weapon he chooses. On a secondary note, I'm being _really_ mean to Hayato, and I do feel bad for the guy. Tsuna will, too, eventually. Reborn is generating some major hatred from you guys! Haha. Don't worry. He'll change his methods soon enough. And to _Kitsurugugi Kou_, Shoichi's flame is a secretttt. It'll make sense when all's said and done—hopefully. I think I got everything, and I want to thank everyone for their support! Everyone's reviews are wonderful, and I enjoy reading all your commentary. Feel free to ask whatever questions you want. I'm more than willing to answer what I can.

**On updates**: I attempted to write chapter five right after I posted four up, but I got major writers block and ended scrapping the meager five-hundred words I had written. Lambo and Fuuta, my darling children, have thwarted my writing muse it seems but fear not! I won't abandon you guys. I've come to love you all too much. Updates will be a lot slower now since I have college stuff to take care of, but as I said, I intend to keep moving forward.

There's not going to be another update until after Friday at the soonest since I have things to do at my college all of Thursday and Friday. : Sorry peeps. (For that and the awful quality of this chapter.)

**X**

Takeshi watched in amusement as his friend was catered to so thoroughly. He couldn't really tell if Gokudera was laying it on thick, so to speak, or just genuinely bent on being a "follower" of Tsuna. The swordsman figured, after Tsuna's hand went white around his science textbook with _that_ look in his eyes, that he ought to have a chat with the silver-haired teenager before he ended up in the hospital. It was the nice thing to do, and he _was_ the nice guy out of all of them. "Yo, Hayato," he began with a grin, "can we talk for a minute?" The black-haired ex-baseball player wondered, amused, if the other guy had some kind of disorder. Could someone go from super-nice suck-up to hateful delinquent that quickly?

"What?" Gokudera asked snappishly. "And what're you calling me by my first name for?" His eyes were narrowed, a suspicious gleam in his eyes. The male looked like the epitome of a delinquent, and Takeshi was sure that Kyoya was going to _hate_ this one. 'Loud, disruptive, and destructive,' Takeshi thought with an internal laugh, 'all of Kyoya's favorite things.' Really, he thought Gokudera was interesting enough, a perfect fit into their group of misfits. Anyway, in comparison to Ryohei, this guy was practically normal.

"I just wanted to have a nice friendly chat with you," he began, ignoring the bit about the name. Tsuna was always telling him he had a weird obsession with names. "Actually, I wanted to tell you that Tsuna's not the kind of guy who likes to be crowded. It's great that you're trying to be his friend and all, but maybe you should just be yourself, ne?" The angry cat look was back full force, and Hayato was glaring at him over his cigarette. Briefly Takeshi thought he should tell the other he might want to consider kicking that habit-smoking was a death sentence to an athlete (or fighter as the case may be)—but thought better of it, doubting Gokudera would appreciate any more advice from him.

"T-that's! You don't understand any of this, do you?" Hayato snarled. "I don't want to be _friends_ with the Tenth! And don't tell me what to do you—" Takeshi gave him a strange look, raising a brow.

"You're right about me not understanding, but I don't think you understand something, too." Takeshi paused, reigning in the irritation that had grown at Hayato's words. He wasn't supposed to get upset about stuff like this. "Tsuna is my _friend_. My best friend, no matter how much you dislike the fact. I have no idea what this business is about the Vongola, but it will never change the fact that I will protect our friends with these hands and this sword." He paused to tap the ever-present Shigure Kintoki that was propped against his shoulder. "I like you, Hayato, and I'd like you to be our friend as well. The best way to go about that would be simply to stop trying to be something you're not. You'd be surprised at the kind of people Tsuna likes to have around."

"He tolerates you, after all, Yamamoto Takeshi," a new voice added in without emotion.

"Maa, Kyoya, I was thinking more on the lines of Ryohei! You're always singling me out!" Takeshi put one of his hands behind his back with a low laugh. It wouldn't do good to add that Kyoya's comment sounded suspiciously like a joke to him. The guy's tonfas were quite painful, after all. Hayato looked between the two with his brows furrowed, and Yamamoto suddenly remembered that dynamite-user had never actually met his and Tsuna's other friend. "Oi, Gokudera, this is Hibari Kyoya, our friend and head of the Discipline Committee," he said, watching the play of emotions on Hayato's face. It seemed he had no idea what to think of him, but Takeshi figured it wouldn't take long for him to form an opinion of Hibari.

"Herbivore," Kyoya said coolly, "he better not cause any disruptions while I nap or I'll bite you to death."

"_Me_?" Takeshi questioned innocently. "Shouldn't you biting _him_ instead?" The Discipline Committee leader quirked a brow as if to say, '_You're daring to question me, Yamamoto Takeshi?_' and the almost-always-happy teenage gave an exasperated grin.

"You guys are friends with the Tenth?" Hayato began quietly, and both boys turned to him. "I don't—_How?_" Takeshi wasn't entirely sure what the other student was getting at, but he could tell it was bothering him—more than it should have. A pained look crossed Gokudera's face, and he added almost silently, "I can't compete with people like you." Despite the solemnity of the situation, Takeshi burst into laughter.

"Haha, I didn't know we were competing over something," he started. "With Tsuna around, whatever game we're playing is bound to be fun, ne?" Gokudera looked at him as if he were crazy, and Kyoya simply ignored them both, walking toward the door to the roof without commenting. Really, Takeshi had long since gotten over "games" and had dived right into the world of danger and hospital visits with Tsuna. Both, he mused, were essentially the same. As a kid in middle school he had been obsessed with baseball, games, and it had taken drive and force of will to get to the top. In this new, adult world of violence and bloodshed, it took the same drive and force of will to not only survive but to _protect_. Being able to protect his precious friends was the dividing line between games and reality. That, in the end, had been the very reason he had dropped his trusty baseball bat to pick up the sword. "We should go back or Tsuna'll worry," Takeshi commented. "Just remember what I said, ne? Tsuna will like you just fine if you act like yourself."

Gokudera nodded hesitantly, not sure what else to say or do. Only one thing was really clear to him-the Tenth sure had a weird Family.

"Caiossu," they heard just as they stepped on the roof. To their surprise, Tsuna was sitting a little ways away from the baby, looking completely calm. Kyoya was napping close to Tsuna, though Takeshi had the sneaking suspicion he wasn't asleep at all. Dino, the blonde they had met the previous day, and his companion, Romario, were sitting close to Reborn, eyes trained completely on Tsuna. They didn't even glance at Takeshi and Gokudera when they made their entrance on the roof. "We need to discuss your training, Tsuna," the baby announced. Tsuna gave him a calculating look and Takeshi could see that Kyoya had peeked open an eye at the announcement. Had he been the only one to notice that Reborn hadn't called him by _that_ name?

"Don't you think you're jumping the gun?" Tsuna snorted. "You haven't explained a thing about this mysterious Vongola I'm supposedly taking over." The baby gave the teenager a long look, and Takeshi moved closer, plopping right next to Tsuna, setting his sword in his lap. Gokudera followed a little more hesitantly, sitting by Takeshi, fiddling with his hands in his lap—obviously not very comfortable with the situation or the people he was surrounded with.

"The Vongola Famiglia," the blonde began instead of Reborn, "is a mafia family in Italy, the most powerful one in fact. The last of three heirs in Italy was killed a few months ago in a rather _unpleasant_ riding accident, and you, being the only descendant of Vongola Primo, are now set to become the Vongola Decimo—or the Tenth as Hayato's taken to calling you. " Tsuna's expression didn't change much throughout the telling, and he remained painfully still. Gokudera flinched a little at the use of his name, but no one paid him much mind.

"And somehow my father's involved in this?" was the unexpected first question. Reborn frowned a little before answering.

"Iemitsu is the External Advisor to the Ninth, and it was his and the Ninth's decision to send me here to train his "cute, no-good son", as well as inform him of the inheritance," Reborn explained, his eyes watching for the reaction to the "no-good" accusation. Instead of his normal reaction, Tsuna tilted his head up, drinking in the sky.

He laughed, and Takeshi felt his normal smile drop at the weird reaction from his friend. "Typical of my father to describe his son as if he were still the ten-year-old he abandoned in Japan," he said quietly, a hint of chill in his voice. Takeshi squashed the urge to physically comfort his friend, knowing it probably wouldn't be well-received in public. Kyoya's eyes slid fully closed again, and the Discipline Committee member let out a breath, obviously annoyed at the conversation. "Exactly what will this _training_ entail?" Tsuna's eyes sharpened and Reborn smirked suddenly, as though he suddenly decided he actually liked this bizarre student-to-be.

Dino looked between the two of them curiously, before bursting into a fit of laughter, and Romario frowned, staring at the blonde in concern, "Boss?"

"It's just kind of funny. Tsuna and Reborn are a lot alike," he explained, and Gokudera's jaw all but hit the pavement. Takeshi laughed, his smile pleased.

"Now that you mention it," he started, "they have a very similar, prickly sort of personality, ne?" Tsuna bristled, smacking him hard upside the back of his head, fixing him with a glare.

"_Idiot_! And what do you mean _prickly sort of personality_? And _you_, what are you smiling at?" Gokudera turned away quickly, muttering an apology. Takeshi smiled at him brightly, a mischievous smile on his face.

"Now, Tsuna, you shouldn't be so mean to Hayato, especially since every word that came from this mouth was the pure and utter truth," the swordsman managed to get out throughout the beating Tsuna was giving him. He was proud of the fact that he had managed to get Tsuna on his feet with just a few words, even if his legs hurt from the abuse. He supposed it was the price you had to pay for friendship—especially a friendship with Tsuna. Unbeknownst to them, Reborn was watching them carefully. Takeshi, the hitman decided, was the perfect right-hand man. The boy was powerful with room to grow, willing to challenge his boss, and yet completely loyal and willing to protect. He took his boss's abuse well, too. Dino and Romario watched the teens—more like Tsuna—go at it for a while, tiny smiles on their faces.

"Well then," Dino broke in just as Tsuna stopped his onslaught, "Romario and I will be taking our leave." Hayato looked up curiously, and the blonde rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I came to Japan thinking Tsuna was going to be a mini-me, but it seems like I don't have much to relate to him." He turned to Tsuna, looking him straight in the eye, "You're already a lot more powerful than I was when Reborn started to train me. Still, it was nice meeting my younger brother." Dino flashed Tsuna a winning smile, and the brunette simply stared back, unimpressed. It wasn't until the blonde went right over and ruffled his hair that he actually got a reaction.

"Oi, weirdo! Don't touch me, moron! Oi!" Dino stepped back to avoid a swipe from Tsuna's hand, and Romario watched the exchange worriedly, though whether he was worried for his boss or Tsuna no one could really tell.

"See ya round, otouto," Dino teased and he and Romario disappeared down the stairs. Takeshi was smiling though a bit confused, and Hayato looked like he was trying to choke down some chuckles at Tsuna's new hairstyle. The Tenth pawed at his hair furiously, his lips set in what seemed like a permanent scowl, when Reborn explained a few more things.

"Dino is the boss of the Cavallone Famiglia, an ally of the Vongola. When his subordinates are not with him he's completely useless and extremely clumsy, just like we assumed you would be, Tsuna. All the training I had planned was built around that fact, and now it seems that we'll have to start from scratch." The tiny hitman didn't seem particularly concerned by the fact. "You have saved us time by gathering family members on your own," he complimented blandly. "Takeshi would be the first choice as your right-hand, ne, Tsuna?"

Tsuna stared at him a minute before grunting an affirmative, but Reborn wasn't pleased with the answer, hopping over and kicking Tsuna in the shin unexpectedly, "You may not be _Dame_-Tsuna, but I won't go easy on you. I'll shape you up to be a fine mafia boss who'll answer questions clearly so that others can hear easily, right?" Tsuna lashed out with his foot, only to get one planted in his other shin. The baby was a lot faster than he looked, he thought as he fell to the pavement. Maybe it would be worth learning from this baby hitman. _Maybe_.

**X**

Shoichi had made a decision that night in Tsuna's room, just as soon as he had seen the flames erupt from that baby's bullet. Holding his own gun in his hands, its familiar weight taunting him, he wondered about it. Before when he saw the green flames envelope his shots he would simply push it off, claiming it to be a trick of the light. Maybe it was the reflection off of something, he'd thought weakly, or maybe it was a hallucination caused by too many blows to, well, everywhere. Yet, the occurrence had been duplicated, by a baby nonetheless, and since he had seen it happen he couldn't rest until he figured out exactly _how_.

He had started off in the Discipline Committee's room, but the quiet stares of its members, all with that distasteful regent hairstyle, made his stomach hurt. There were a number of rooms in the school that were ideal for his work so it wasn't too hard to pick one to bunker down in. All he needed was some peace and quiet, away from all his friends, just for a little while. Just a few hours of complete silence that was all he—

"Haha! You'll never catch Lambo!" a childish voice hollered, bursting into Shoichi's quiet space. The loud thumping of heavy footfall followed quickly, and the red-head set down his tools with a sigh. A bunch of third-year students, delinquents by the looks of them, popped in a few moments later, all in a tizzy. As soon as they caught sight of the tiny boy in the cow-print shirt they let out a loud enough clamor to wake the dead. Shoichi's eye twitched when the boy moved closer to him in a gamble to stay safe.

"Hey, you think you can mess with us, and then run away, punk?" One said, waving his fist threateningly. Lambo squeaked, hiding behind Shoichi's chair, which consequently brought all the attention crashing down on the techie's head. "Get out of my way, pipsqueak," the student threatened, stalking closer to Shoichi. The boy behind him was quivering something awful, and the red-head couldn't believe the third-year students before him. What kind of idiots beat up on little kids? Man, what he wouldn't give for Hibari to come waltzing in. That would definitely make them think twice about being idiots, he mused, but Hibari_ was_ nowhere to be found. (Though, since it was lunch, Shoichi thought, he'd be on the roof for his nap.)

Instead, it was just him. Him and a boy name Lambo. _And a gun, _a gun he hadn't quite gotten to take apart yet. Cocking his head, he attempted to recreate the same expression Tsuna wore from time to time, lazily picking up his weapon. "What'd you say?" he whispered coolly, cocking the gun and pointing it at the first bully, his friends scattering all about him muttering amongst themselves. "I hope you weren't talking to me." The bully took a few steps back, stumbling, before he fell backwards, and then he scrambled away, making all sorts of unpleasant sounds.

Shoichi lowered the gun with a loud sigh as soon as the last teenager made their getaway, "I'm really not cut out for this kind of thing." He ran a hand through his hair, already feeling a stomachache coming on.

"So cool!" the boy exclaimed, suddenly pressed up to his legs, all in his face. "Are you a hitman, too? Like me and Reborn?" Shoichi blinked, looking down on the kid worriedly. Hitman? The kid looked like he was five, and it must have showed on his face. "Oi! Don't underestimate Lambo-san! I'm a top-notch hitman from the Bovino Famiglia!"

"Ah," Shoichi mumbled, "is that so?" So much for working on figuring out about those flames, he thought dejectedly as the boy pawed at him unhappily—obviously convinced he was a great hitman even though he was only seven.

**X**

Birthdays were never a big deal, but Reborn had insisted. He had also insisted that he would take care of all the preparations, which made Tsuna both relieved and wary. On the one hand, he had no desire to plan a party since they tended to be troublesome, especially with their group, but on the other, with a crazy baby hitman like Reborn planning, he had absolutely no idea what to expect. Reborn had already proved, in the past few days at the Sawada household, that he was completely insane. Tsuna, who was normally the one in control of the situation, found himself at Reborn's mercy most mornings, and he didn't like it—not one bit. It brought him right back to middle school, to that time before Takeshi, who was, conveniently enough, the one whose birthday they were planning.

The only thing he was told to handle was a gift. In the past he would give Takeshi a gift on his birthday, nothing too fancy, but he would do it, if only to keep the idiot from feeling bad on his birthday. There was something wrong with a Takeshi who wasn't deliriously happy at all times. However, this year he had a hard time choosing something. Normally it was a simple pick and buy, but it didn't seem right now. Now, it seemed so much harder to find something, and he couldn't, for the life of him, figure out why.

"Tenth!" Tsuna stopped in his tracks, rolling his eyes. 'No matter how many times I tell him to stop calling me that,' he trailed off to himself. Hayato ran up, his eyes shining in that way they always did when faced with Tsuna, though he had seemed to have toned it down a bit since the time he declared that he wanted to be a follower of Tsuna. Personally, it made the brunette feel sick, like he was some kind of weird cult leader or something, and so he began to walk away almost as soon as the other ran up. "Are you buying something for Yamamoto?" He stopped again, turning to the silver-haired teenager.

"Something like that," he answered with a shrug. Hayato rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"I didn't know what to get so I bought him a tie," the dynamite-user said sheepishly. Tsuna raised a brow at him.

"A tie? As long as its blue I doubt the idiot will be anything other than be sinfully happy," he snorted, shaking his head. Who bought their friend a tie for their birthday when they were turning seventeen? "I'm surprised you bought him something at all. You didn't seem to like him at all a few days ago." The Vongola's Tenth boss watched Hayato's expression carefully, searching for the answer in his face rather than his words.

The other quieted, "Y-you're right, of course, Tenth. I didn't like him at all since he was close to you, but I realize that I'm not nearly up to par with the rest of your family. So I have to train harder! And Takeshi said he'd help me so I've been trying to get along with him." Tsuna stared at him for a little while.

"Hmm, is that so?" he said quietly.

"Well, you said I wasn't strong enough to follow you, and I wanted to change that!" the words came out a lot louder than the man had intended.

"Than train with Takeshi," Tsuna snorted. "He may be an idiot, but he knows how to train—himself and others." Gokudera looked hopeful.

"If I do, become stronger, you'll let me be a member of your Family?"

Tsuna's eyes narrow at him, "_If_ you become stronger. I think even Shoichi could beat you now, and that's a bit pathetic." Gokudera winced, and Tsuna was aware that he was being a lot crueler than normal to the other. From what he could tell Hayato really did want to please him, to become a member of his mafia Family; however, he felt there were other motives behind his desire to join the Vongola Famiglia. Without knowing what those motives were, he was hesitant to trust him at all. Everyone who followed him, who "befriended" him had a clear-cut story. Yamamoto had an almost-suicide turned stalker story, and Ryohei wanted to befriend and recruit the guy who had saved himself and his sister from Mochida. Kyoya was merely interested in him because he was a strong opponent, a carnivore in a world full of herbivores. Hayato wanted to be a member of his Family for what?

"Understood," Hayato said suddenly. "I'll prove myself to you, I swear!"

In the end he had purchased two things for his best friend, and when he got home he carefully set them on the table designated for the gifts with a frown. The decorations looked simple enough, and nothing looked too weird or too out there. With Reborn, he wasn't entirely sure _what_ to expect. The only thing out of place was a giant blackboard sitting in their living space. It was like an omen, he mused, staring at the smooth, unblemished surface, and he could only hold his breath, guessing at what Reborn had planned. He was sure Reborn would reveal his tricks soon enough—as frightening as that thought was.

Ryohei, as loud as ever, and his sister arrived first with a gift in Kyoko's arms, shortly followed by Hayato. Haru, dragging a scuffed up Shoichi, followed. Strangely enough, there was a child in his arms with a black afro and a cow-print shirt who Shoichi sheepish introduced as Lambo, a kid who claimed to be a hitman who knew Reborn. "Shoichi-baka," the child snapped, crawling on Shoichi's back and pulling at his hair. "I'm a real hitman! A first-class one! Don't underestimate me!" Tsuna was glad that Kyoya wasn't in attendance to their little party or the kid might night live for much longer, or anyone else in the house for that matter. He didn't think his house had ever seen such excitement, and it was exhausting him. Kyoya's gift to Takeshi, wrapped in deceptively innocent blue paper with birds printed on it with black ink, made Tsuna snort almost compulsively. He wasn't sure he wanted to know what Kyoya had gotten Takeshi.

"Caiossu," Reborn greeted, popping, seemingly, out of thin air. Kyoko and Haru went starry-eyed, going on about how cute he was, and Tsuna nearly burst into laughter when Reborn told them calmly that he was a hitman. However, that would have ruined his image, and he refrained. From there, Reborn moved toward door—presumably to retrieve Takeshi. Tsuna, focused on keeping Ryohei from harassing him with boxing, didn't even notice the conversation taking place between Haru and Kyoko—about who was most attractive in the room. (Tsuna was winning, mostly due to the fact that Haru was the second party in the conversation and was convinced she would one day be Tsuna's bride.) Had he known, he might have made different plans for the evening.

"Yo!" Takeshi smiled brightly as he stepped into the room. Tsuna had his doubts that this was _at all_ a "surprise" party, and he watched quietly, from his corner, as Takeshi interacted with the different guests. "Oi, Tsuna! Aren't you going to wish your best friend a happy birthday?" Tsuna snorted, giving his "best friend" a smug look.

He crossed his arms, "I would if I had a best friend, _idiot, _but since you're here instead, I suppose I can spare you a _small_ birthday greeting." Takeshi laughed, plopping down beside his best friend. Hayato was being accosted by Ryohei across the room, he noted. Shoichi was attempting to keep a black-haired boy from launching himself at Haru. 'Another new friend?' the swordsman thought in amusement.

"Maa, maa, you'll never change, will you? I think you said that last year, too," Takeshi said with a chuckle.

"I'm surprised someone with your brain capacity could remember such a thing after such a long time," Tsuna goaded.

Reborn's voice cut off any further conversation, "Tsuna. It's time for a traditional Vongola birthday competition." Tsuna gave him a dubious look and found that across the blackboard was written, "Yamamoto Takeshi Gift Ranking." Somehow, Tsuna thought as Reborn drew his green gun-that-was-actually-a-lizard, Reborn had managed to make his life so much more messed up than it already was.


	6. Black Invitations and Haru's Dying Will

**The Rebirth of Dame-Tsuna**

**Chapter 6**

**Vescaria**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.

**Warnings**: OOC!Tsuna, AU, Canon!Rape, Righthand!Yamamoto, Yaoi (maybe…probably), and lots of other things.

**Notes for the Reviewers**: Shoichi's flame color is still a secret. Sorry! Haha. In fact, his whole plot's a secret cause it would be no fun for me to reveal it now—even if you may have figured it out by now. A lot of you guys are really on it! As for Tsuna normally being a virginal Decimo. Pfff. Not my Tsuna. My Tsuna's kickass crazy, even a little crazy for me, and I'm writing his character. On a final note, Reborn's job is half-tutoring and half-torturing. Where else would the hitman get his kicks in life?

On a side note, there's a poll in my profile that needs your votes!

**X**

Tsuna set the two packages on Hibari's desk quietly, ignoring the Discipline Committee members who flitted about them, taking care of business. It was Children's Day, and more importantly, Hibari's birthday, though few knew of it. It was probably best that it was so—especially since Kyoya wasn't one for people_ at all._ Instead, Tsuna and Takeshi, probably the only two Kyoya would ever consider "friends", celebrated in near-silence. The only hint that it was different from any day was the two gifts Tsuna had just set onto Hibari's desk. It was a painful affair, the brunette mused, since he had never had to give so many gifts before. Up until middle school the only one he had to worry about was his mom, and after that, for the longest time, Takeshi was the only one added to that list.

And with someone like Takeshi, really, you didn't have to worry. That _idiot_, Tsuna mused, would be happy with a _coat hanger_ if it were given to him. Honestly, it pissed Tsuna off to no end. Takeshi was always so sunny it hurt, and half of the time he couldn't comprehend how it was humanly possible to wear a smile for that long. Surely Takeshi's face—or brain—was broken. It was almost embarrassing sometimes, Tsuna grumbled to himself, to have a friend who was so easy to please. It hadn't been long ago that Takeshi had opened his two gifts from Tsuna, so deliriously happy that he had hugged the smaller boy tightly, overjoyed to have received a handsome blue yukata and good-luck charm from his best friend. No one could possibly get so happy over such a small, silly thing. Takeshi shouldn't have been so happy with such small affections, and no matter how much he thought on it, Tsuna couldn't understand Takeshi's happy personality. He had tried to laugh at everything life had thrown at him, tried to smile in the face to despair. It hadn't worked—_obviously_.

Kyoya was a lot more complicated, a lot more like himself in respects to personality. Consequently, buying gifts for him was ten times more complicated than buying gifts for Takeshi. Technically Kyoya was quite low maintenance. He didn't like crowding, so parties were a complete no-go—much to Tsuna's relief. Right after Takeshi's most recent birthday _fiasco_, under Reborn's dictatorship, he had to play host to yet another birthday gathering—for Haru, his obsessed fangirl who frightened him a lot more than he cared to admit. Kyoya would have killed him if he had let Reborn organize a party for him—especially as crazy as one Reborn would have planned—so he kept his mouth shut about the date and simply took steps to handle it just as he had for the past few years since they had met in middle school. There was only one thing they did for the other teenager, and that was to give him a gift. Maybe, if things weren't too busy on Children's Day, Takeshi would treat the Discipline Committee member to lunch or dinner.

However, during this particular year, that was not the case.

The attacks had started shortly after Takeshi's birthday, in the lingering days of April. Half the members of their high school's Discipline Committee had been targeted and brutally attacked, and it was clear that a silent challenge was being made. Hibari was gone from his office on his birthday to take care of Namimori just as if it were any other day. Then again, Tsuna thought, that was Kyoya's nature. The teenager was so loyal to Namimori, and Japan, that it was almost ridiculous. No one else but Hibari had made their school's song their ring tone, and even Tsuna would admit that going that far was a _little_ over the top. Then again, they all seemed to have a strange quirk so there wasn't really much room for him to complain.

"Sawada-san," a voice greeted, and Tsuna turned to see Kyoya's right-hand man, Tetsuya, standing there watching him from the doorway. The room was devoid of other life besides the two of them; Tsuna hadn't even noticed the other members of the Committee leaving. "Did you need something? Hibari-san left to investigate the attacks, but I can call him if you need to tell him something."

"There's no need," Tsuna said quietly. "I was just delivering something for him." He snorted quietly. "I know how much he hates it when people interrupt his business so it's best not to bother him with something trivial." Tetsuya nodded in agreement, observing the other intently. Tetsuya had known Kyoya long enough to know that Tsuna was about as good a friend for the teenager as it got. Sure, they acted more like business partners than friends on most occasions, and Kyoya wouldn't hesitate to attempt to land Tsuna in the hospital if he could. However, Tetsuya knew that if push came to shove, his boss would step in and aid Tsuna if need be. Their beliefs, Tsuna's and Kyoya's, tended to coincide more often than not, and Hibari, from what the teenager could tell, greatly respected Tsuna and his abilities.

"Has there been any new information about the attacks?" Tsuna questioned, turning away from the desk and toward Tetsuya. The taller teenager, with the regent-style hair, stood straighter at the mention of business. Reaching into one of his blazer's many pockets, he withdrew what looked to be a piece black cardstock the size of a standard business card. Gold-embossed letters shined under the room's lights, but Tsuna couldn't make out the words from where he was standing.

"Every victim received one of these prior to being attacked, as well as a gold watch after," he stated, moving closer to Tsuna so that he could inspect the card for himself. "They all have the same message, but the numbers at the bottom are all different. So far all victims have been given numbers between twelve and seven. Hibari-san suspected they were some sort of group looking for strong fighters. The most recent victim was Mochida-san who received the number seven." He paused. "Members of the Discipline Committee were dispatched late yesterday to the location listed on the card, but they were also attacked. Hibari left shortly after he visited them in the hospital earlier today."

Tsuna nodded, taking the card into his hand. It was an elegant piece of work, and the fancy printed, '9', gleamed in the light under the rest of the text.

_Be at Kokuyo Land at 11:00 PM._

_Your defeat is certain._

_9_

"Tacky," Tsuna snorted. "But they're strong?"

"Hai. Hibari decided it was best he go and deal with them personally," Tetsuya answered, feeling the urge to shiver. Whoever these people were, they would surely be punished brutally for disturbing the peace of Namimori. Hibari wouldn't allow them to escape. "One of the members of the Committee gave him some information at the hospital when he woke up this morning." Tsuna nodded, his eyes boring into Tetsuya's. The honey-eyed teenager could easily see uneasiness in Tetsuya's eyes, a hint of worry.

"I'll go and check up on it, to ease your mind," he said easily. "I'm sure Kyoya has it handled, but I'd like to research this one for myself." He wasn't worried about his "ally", not in the slightest. Of all their friends, Tsuna knew, Kyoya was the best equipped to handle situations such as these.

**X**

"Mochida," Tsuna greeted coolly, letting a devilish smirk slid onto his face. The older student let out an undignified squeak and made a pitiful attempt to move to the other side of his hospital bed. Tsuna had already spoken to the Discipline Committee members who had been hospitalized, and none of them had been given the watch that all the invited victims had been given. After a little digging he had quickly found that their number seven victim was the same guy he had beaten to a bloody pulp in the dojo, Mochida, and he had decided, with glee, to pay his sempai a surprise visit. He was going to enjoy the next few moments of _interrogation._ "Tell me what happened."

"I—I, uh," the kendo club captain began shakily, shuttering under Tsuna's gaze almost violently, "went to Kokuyo Land three nights ago, j-just like the card said. The guys—they didn't respect me after you—" The teenager got really quiet, looking anywhere but Tsuna's face. "A-Anyway, this guy attacked me, _with his bare hands_, and I swear to you, he had claws and fangs! He beat me up, and put _this_," he stopped to hold up a fancy, gold watch, "in my hand before I passed out. I didn't even have a chance to attack him. I s-swear I don't know anything else!" He seemed quite desperate for Tsuna to leave the room as soon as possible. Tsuna, instead of leaving, took the gold pocket watch from his hand. Clicking it open, he found that its glass face was broken and the hands were permanently declaring it to be seven o'clock.

"Hmm," Tsuna hummed. "He didn't _say _anything? About this?" He closed the watch with a loud 'snap'.

"S-say anything?" Mochida parroted back in fear.

"You know 'say', as in communicate through the use of human speech?" Tsuna said sarcastically, giving Mochida an annoyed glare. Mochida shook his head furiously, and a nurse waltzed in a few moments later, causing a ridiculously relieved look to cross the teenager's face. "Worthless," Tsuna muttered, leaving the room, taking the gold watch with him. It didn't seem like he'd be getting any information out of the kendo captain, since he obviously hadn't been strong enough to stay conscious long enough to discover anything of importance.

"Tsuna!" Takeshi shouted, and said-boy was surprised to see that the happy expression that was normally upon his best friend's face was missing, replaced with a worried expression. "Kyoya's missing." Tsuna frowned, giving the swordsman an incredulous look. Those words seemed almost surreal, and he couldn't easily accept them—not without some sort of proof.

"Don't be stupid," Tsuna snorted. "He just went to deal with the attackers. Surely you don't doubt his capabilities as a fighter?" He raised an eyebrow at the black-haired teenager, daring him to say that Kyoya wasn't strong enough to handle those who threatened Namimori's peace and tranquility. Hibari wouldn't stop until he had beaten them, no matter what the circumstances.

"I don't, but when I called his phone," Takeshi trailed off, his eyes deeply pained.

Tsuna felt a cold dread fall over him. The expression on Takeshi's face was telling, foreboding. "What is it, Takeshi?" he barked, feeling the unease set in.

"Someone picked up," he said quietly, his eyes staring unblinking at his friend, "but it wasn't Kyoya."

Tsuna went still, all possibilities flying through his mind. It wasn't like Hibari to let others touch his things, to answer his phone of all things! "What did they say, Takeshi?" Despite how much he wished to be calm and collected, he couldn't slow the racing of his heart. Kyoya was too strong to fall, an invincible spirit who would never falter.

Takeshi's eyes were more serious than Tsuna had ever seen them, "They said he was busy _playing games _with their boss, that he wouldn't be able to call back for a long, long while." The swordsman spat the words out as though they left a bad taste in his mouth. "They said there would be no need to come for him. It was too late." The shorter teen stiffened at the words. They hadn't failed yet. Tsuna would never say so out loud, but Kyoya was their friend, their dear friend who seemed unbeatable. It was almost incomprehensible that some bastard had taken him out, acting as though it were child's play. Tsuna would make them regret _being_ _born_ now that they had messed with someone as important to him as the leader of the Discipline Committee.

"The hell it is," he snarled unhappily. "We're going, Takeshi."

"Baka," a tiny voice said, and a tiny foot collided with the side of Tsuna's head. "You're not going anywhere yet." Reborn stood, his lips set in a thin line. Tsuna didn't acknowledge the pain, but rather, settled to glare down as his 'teacher'. He had come to respect Reborn a tiny bit since he'd come to live in their home, come to accept his strange ways, but no one got in his way when he made up his mind. Something like this couldn't wait, not when time was already against them. He clutched the gold watch in his hand tightly. Reborn went to kick him again, but Tsuna snarled, moving out of the way swiftly. "Don't be hasty, Tsuna," Reborn scolded, "or you'll be killed. You won't be going to fight anyone _until I say so_." Those words were spoken almost as a threat.

"Reborn-san," Takeshi said quietly, "we really don't have time, and there are two of us. Tsuna and I won't los—"

Reborn looked grave, "You'll die if you face the Kokuyo gang now. I know who you're facing, and you wouldn't last long in a battle against them." Tsuna snorted in disbelief.

"Are we supposed to abandon Kyoya then?" Tsuna snapped angrily. Reborn gave him a hard look, as though he were disappointed.

"A loss won't save him," the baby pointed out. "I thought you were more level-headed than this, Tsuna." The golden-eyed teenager turned away, angry and embarrassment flooding him. It had been a long time since he had felt this helpless, and it wasn't a feeling he had been in a hurry to feel again.

"Do you know who we're fighting against, Reborn-san?" Takeshi asked quietly.

"Let's go home to talk," Reborn said quietly. "This isn't the place for this conversation."

"They're escaped criminals," Reborn explained to Tsuna, Takeshi, and Shoichi much to their surprise. The red-head looked a bit nervous to be there but didn't offer an explanation. "Their leader, Mukuro Rokudo, was supposed to have been executed for heinous crimes two weeks ago; however, he staged a jailbreak—along with several other well-known mafia criminals. So far, we know that two of the escapees are with him here in Japan. All the others are unaccounted for." Reborn was watching Tsuna's face intently, ignoring the others in the room. "At your current skill level, there is absolutely no way you could possible stand a chance against even the lowest level criminals Mukuro helped escape." The teenager Reborn was so intent on watching glared at him defiantly.

Tsuna moved almost at a slug's pace, and it took a while for the moment to register in Shoichi's mind. In an instant the whole situation seemed to descend into the depths of hell. _Tsuna had his gun_, and in a mere second, he had said gun pointed directly at the tiny baby who had explained the situation to them. The techie couldn't even begin to start understanding what was going through the other boy's mind—or when his gun had left his possession. Immediately, he found his stomach aching, and he quickly attempted to resolve the situation, "Tsuna-san! We should listen to Reborn." He shivered under Tsuna's intense gaze. "These guys aren't normal," he managed to mumble out.

Takeshi jumped into the conversation, "You know something, Shoichi." The red-head nodded.

"I got an invitation a few days ago, but I didn't go to the location," he muttered sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I hate fighting so I ignored it." He paused for a little while, his stomach knotting painfully, "Hayato got one, too, and he didn't say if he had gone or not. I tried to find him this morning, but he was missing. I panicked a little and finally just decided to come here and tell you about it. I," Shoichi took a deep breath, "I saw the guy who attacked the Discipline Committee yesterday. He wasn't _normal._" Tsuna was frowning, but the raised gun didn't waver. Takeshi looked tense.

"Tsuna," the swordsman said quietly, coaxing Tsuna out of his current mood. "We're all worried about Kyoya and everyone else, but attacking Reborn's not going to solve anything. We should listen to his advice and prepare ourselves so that we can save Kyoya more easily." Tsuna remained frozen for a while before he lowered the gun, dropping it into Shoichi's waiting hands. The red-head looked more than relieved to have his weapon back in his possession, and just as Tsuna was about to open his mouth to finally speak, loud footsteps were heard outside the door of Tsuna's room, and the door was thrown open to reveal none other than Ryohei.

"Oi, Tsuna! Hayato's in the hospital!"

He looked banged up when they observed him on the hospital bed, and the silver-haired boy forced a smile when he saw them. "Hey, Tenth." The words sounded weak. Beside him, on the table by his bed, were two items—the same two that were becoming common factors with this new threat, the black card with gold embossed lettering and the gold watch which Tsuna suspected would have the same cracked glass face. "Sorry, I messed up again." Hayato looked depressed at his failure, and Takeshi patted his shoulder with a small smile.

"No worries, Hayato," he reassured calmly. "These guys aren't your average fighting group. We'll take care of them." Hayato shook his head, still looking upset.

"Who did you fight, Hayato?" Reborn asked, hopping onto the bed.

Gokudera's nose scrunched up slightly, "This weird guy wearing glasses. He found me on the street and called me a coward for not going to Kokuyo Land." He paused, looking ashamed of his actions. "I got angry, and we fought. He was using these weird yo-yos. I'm sorry I didn't find out more." He bowed his head. The teenager had hoped to prove himself in the fight, to show just how much he had been improving by training with Takeshi, but instead, he felt he had made a fool of himself again. He hated feeling so weak—especially in front of the Tenth. Tsuna snorted.

"Stop apologizing. You've got nothing to be sorry for," he said firmly. Hayato looked up, appreciation shining in his eyes before nodding quickly, wincing as he did so. "Now stop aggravating your injuries. We'll take care of this." Tsuna picked up the watch and the note. "Six?" The watch, when opened, was cracked as expected, and the time read six o'clock. Suddenly the thought struck him, "A countdown?"

"Correct," Reborn said. "Shoichi received the number five." Tsuna paused for a moment. "A countdown to the strongest fighter of Namimori High School," Reborn said. "And a direct challenge to the future boss of the Vongola, Sawada Tsunayoshi."

"What _extreme _methods," Ryohei commented, looking at the watch curiously.

"Who are these people, Reborn?" Takeshi asked, peeking over Tsuna's shoulder at both the watch and invitation. Somehow, he got the feeling that these people were a lot more dangerous than they had originally thought.

"They are mafia criminals," Reborn answered simply, "with extraordinary abilities. You'll require special training to be able to face them." Shoichi, who had been standing there quietly since they had arrived in the hospital room, wondered if special training with Reborn would be as awful as it was with Tsuna.

Back in Tsuna's room, Ryohei had joined them to discuss the training needed to prepare for the fight against Mukuro's criminals. "I called over a few friends to prepare Takeshi and Ryohei. They'll find you tomorrow morning to start your training," Reborn explained. "Shoichi and Tsuna will train with me." The swordsman and the boxer nodded, excusing themselves from the house. Takeshi wanted to get some practice in with his katana before he went to bed, and Ryohei claimed he had some _extreme_ training that needed tending to before it became dark. After the two had left, Reborn introduced them to the concept of a dying will, and _really_, Tsuna wasn't buying into it.

"You want me to _let_ you _shoot_ me? So I'll have a "dying will" to fight?" he asked, his eyebrows almost up to his hairline. "Absolutely not." The intimidating teenager crossed his arms, staring at the baby stubbornly.

"Baka," Reborn said, "you'll have to do it eventually." The smirk the baby wore was telling. One way or another Reborn would find a way to get the better of him. Tsuna had to hand it to the baby, he was more experienced and cunning—more _evil_ than he could ever hope to be in the near future. It was frightening. Still, he couldn't _admit_ to that fact, and he refused to give in so easily. He wasn't some weakling who was going to bend to someone else's will on a whim.

"You're not telling me something, Reborn," he pointed out, "and I'm not agreeing to_ anything _until I find out what you're hiding from me." Shoichi looked as wary as he did, knowing that the hitman most likely had some dastardly scheme planned. As it so happens, Haru decided to come through the door, carrying tea and snacks for them excitedly.

"Hahi! Tsuna-kun, I brought you something," she said, eyes shining in adoration. She had just set some steaming cups of tea on the table when Reborn fired a shot. Shoichi let out an undignified squeak, and Tsuna's eyes widened at what followed. "I will kiss Tsuna with my dying will!" the girl exclaimed loudly, suddenly devoid of all clothing minus her undergarments. A ball of flames was concentrated on her forehead, and Shoichi was more than happy to stare at it rather than the rest of the girl's exposed body. The situation became even worse when said girl moved right over to Tsuna to kiss him straight on the mouth, and Tsuna was frozen, stunned completely by what was occurring. Haru went in for another, but Tsuna jumped up, scrambling to get away from the deranged girl as fast as possible. He wiped his mouth furiously, looking completely and utterly horrified. His face, Shoichi noticed, was bright red, and his expression was panicked. Shoichi couldn't say he had ever seen Tsuna with that particular expression ever before.

"Reborn! You—stop her!" the teenager shouted desperately, pushing Haru away as genteelly as he could. He wondered if Haru had always been that strong. She was a beast now, with that flame flickering on her head, and he was having a hard time holding her off. Tsuna felt a shock of fear run through him. Reborn was torturing him by getting Haru to molest him! Shoichi wanted to ask about the flame, but found that the words were stuck in his throat. The situation was_ too_ weird, but then again, that's what he got for being friends with Tsuna.

"Poor Tsuna," Reborn mocked. "Was that really your first kiss? You should be happy it was with such a cute girl." As if to fuel Tsuna's rage, he sipped at the tea left on the table as if the display before him were completely normal.

"I'm going to _kill _you, Reborn! And where are her clothes? " the brunette hissed angrily, all the while watching the girl who was focused on kissing him. Shoichi was torn between laughing and crying at the situation. He was sure that if he dared a laugh, Tsuna would probably end up killing him, too. Haru had just leaned in for another kiss when the flame began to fizzle out, and she collapsed on the floor. Tsuna quickly took one of his blankets and covered her up. He didn't even want to begin thinking on how he was going to explain the state of undress to Haru, and he was going to have to be careful to keep it a secret from his mother. "What the hell," he said slowly, glaring Reborn down. "There's no way you're using that on me! I don't care how powerful it will make me. I refuse." The words were final, but Reborn merely gave him a smirk.

"Is that so, Dame-Tsuna?"

Tsuna went stiff and glared at his teacher hatefully, "I thought you had stopped using that name." Reborn knew exactly how to push his buttons, knew all the words to say to make him boiling mad. It was infuriating yet so effective. Reborn was playing him like a fiddle.

"I'll use it whenever I feel that it's true," Reborn answered calmly. "The dying will bullet is the best way for you to defeat Mukuro."

"That's all well and good if I could keep my _clothes_ on while I was fighting," Tsuna snarled. "Or else Mukuro's going to be dying of _laughter_ when I fight him." He couldn't bare that type of humiliation.

"That's why we have Shoichi," Reborn said with a smirk. Shoichi shivered in anticipation, and he just knew the tiny hitman had planned this from the start—all the way down to shooting Haru to torment Tsuna. Man, he thought, that baby was _insane—g_enius but completely insane. "He can modify the bullets to draw out your fighting spirit better—with your clothes on." The baby smirked. "Since you're such a prude."

"Who the hell are you calling a prude? It's degrading to fight like that!" Tsuna snarled. "Don't even _think_ of using those on me. _Ever. _I'd rather die than be caught fighting in my underwear."

"So vain, Tsuna," Reborn jeered, "or maybe it's because of something else? Maybe Tsuna-kun doesn't wear underwear." Shoichi choked on air, giving Reborn a pleading look to _stop_ before one of them died. Tsuna looked absolutely livid, and it got worse with every passing moment. He could just see the other teenager's blood pressure rising with every word uttered by Reborn.

"Reborn," Tsuna said quietly. "I'm going to _murder_ you and send your body back to Italy in thousand pieces." Reborn smirked at him, sipping his tea victoriously.

"You can't touch me, _Dame_-Tsuna," Reborn remarked easily. Ignoring Tsuna's angry threats that followed, he turned to Shoichi, "Shoichi, you better start working on those bullets." The red-head frowned, not sure how to tell Reborn he wasn't sure _how._ The hitman sighed, "Out of all of Tsuna's Family," Shoichi wanted to protest about the "Family" business, "you're the only one who's begun to understand the dying will flame. You've seen it on your bullets already so you should have no problem with this. It's for Kyoya, right? Don't mess up." Reborn placed three bullets in his hand.

"R-right," Shoichi managed, staring at the bullets mocking him from his hand.

**X**

The 100th reviewer receives a prize! I'll write the winner an any pairing Katekyo Hitman Reborn one-shot (about 3000-4000 words in length). It can be based in this universe I've created or it can be completely separate. I'll PM the winner when we have one.


	7. A Blond Baby and a Breakdown

**The Rebirth of Dame-Tsuna**

**Chapter 7**

**Vescaria**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.

**Warnings**: OOC!Tsuna, AU, Canon!Rape, Righthand!Yamamoto, Yaoi (maybe…probably), and lots of other things.

**Notes for the Reviewers**:Mukuro's coming, I swear! Along with the fated rivalry and hatred between him and Kyoya. Also, I'm very sorry that many of you felt the last chapter was rushed. I have a problem with trying to make things _too_ interesting and _too_ fast sometimes, but I'm working on it. As for Haru, I'm sure one of these chapters I'll go into _why_ she's a fangirl. The last four invitations will be revealed in due course, and I'd like to mention that the watches are canon but the invitations were not. I also added the cracked glass of the watches, which wasn't in the anime. It's just my spin on things. Also, Shoichi's not the only one who noticed the flames. I mentioned it in another chapter that Takeshi's seen flames on Tsuna's weapons before. Shoichi's the only one who's starting to _understand_ them though. Everyone else has been too busy worrying about other things to even really bother to think about it.

Poll's still up! I think I'll keep it up until I have around fifty votes, to make it fair.

Also, congrats to yumeniai for leaving the 100th review and winning the prize!

**X**

Ryohei's training regime hadn't changed much over the years—everything he did remained very much _extreme_. On the morning that Reborn's mysterious trainer was supposed to come and pick him up, he got up an hour early to get himself more psyched up, though anyone else could have easily seen that the teenager was about as psyched up as they needed to be, even prior to the early morning workout. The boxer's mind revolved around being extreme and attempting to get Sawada Tsunayoshi to join the boxing club. However, lately, someone else had managed to take a prominent position in his life—the strange events that always seemed to orbit around Tsuna. Ryohei wasn't too concerned about the details, but even someone such as he, who was so obsessive over not much else besides boxing, could tell that his life was changing all around him.

The changes had been coming even faster with the arrival of that really intriguing baby, Reborn.

The world seemed to have tilted, and suddenly they had all been thrust into a very different and very _dangerous_ world. Things had been dangerous enough before, he'd admit, for any normal person. Tsuna was the type of person who seemed to attract trouble but with Reborn came a whole other threat. Ryohei wasn't afraid, not for himself at least, but he was worried about his sister and all the others who were involved with his friend, Tsuna. Not everyone was as strong as the ultimately _extreme _Tsuna or himself, and this new mafia business was a whole level of dangerous he had never experienced before.

These new guys in particular, the Kokuyo gang, made Mochida and his thugs look like playground bullies. Ryohei hated to do it, but he had been lying to his baby sister, Kyoko, more and more lately about how he spent his spare time. He'd always claim he was training for boxing, and fights with Tsuna were covered up with stories about _extreme_ tournament style fights—that were, of course, perfectly safe. Kyoko wasn't an idiot and could probably see right through him, but she kept quiet about it. Ryohei knew it probably hurt her a lot more than it appeared to on the outside, but he really couldn't bear to drag her into the fray. It was better to keep her in the dark about the new lifestyle he was engaged in—this strange new mafia business of Tsuna's.

He hadn't thought much of it at first, all the talk of Tsuna being the "Tenth" or something. His focus had remained on Tsuna's skills as a fighter, and it seemed ideal to Ryohei to have a friend who so easily drew the strongest characters to him like some sort of human magnet. But then, seemingly out of nowhere, there came Hayato bringing a storm of new experiences and battles right onto Tsuna's lap. Tsuna had become different after Reborn had come to "tutor" him. The talk about mafia made him sharper, edgier, and so much more powerful. It was almost frightening, but Ryohei found himself drawn in despite the risks. Despite how much Tsuna protested or ignored the fact, they were friends. Sure, he couldn't match the bond between Tsuna and Takeshi, but he was stuck in their world of fighting—a force that would remain with them through all the hardships. Deep down, he was sure that Tsuna had accepted that a while ago.

"Yosh!" he resolved out loud. "I will train to the _extreme_ for the upcoming battles ahead!"

"You're an interesting one, kora," a voice announced. Ryohei spun around to see a blond baby in camouflage staring him up and down as if taking an in-depth evaluation of him. Maybe it was a strange coincidence, but he wore the same kind of pacifier around his neck as Reborn. Ryohei didn't have much time to think about it, since the baby began to talk once again. "I'll be in charge of your training from here on out, kora," he stated, staring the boxer down with sharp eyes. A tiny smirk worked its way on the blond's face, and somehow, Ryohei though, that smile didn't belong on baby's face. "Just call me Colonello."

"Master Colonello" as Ryohei had taken to calling him, proceeded to present him with a camouflage headband identical to his own and told him they were going on a little trip. The blond baby took them out in the middle of nowhere, plopped down, and told Ryohei to do the same. The boxer had expected (and hoped) to begin his training immediately, but the baby seemed to have other ideas. Ryohei didn't feel equipped for long periods of rest. It just wasn't his style. "Hey!" he stated after thirty minutes of complete silence and stillness, "shouldn't we start my _extreme_ training already?" He was getting fidgety, and it was unnatural for him to be still and quiet for so long. This sort of training—or lack thereof—wasn't _extreme_ enough for him. Sitting up, he stared at his teacher expectantly.

"Get back down, kora!" the baby said. "This is part of your training." Ryohei wanted to protest but sighed instead, giving into Colonello's command. He hoped it would all make sense soon; he could only sit down and "relax" for so long. "Don't go through with your normal morning training," Colonello had ordered after a whole day of nothing but sitting and staring at the sky. Ryohei had never been so lazy and laidback before, and he had to admit that, by the end of the day, he was enjoying the scenery right along with his teacher, Colonello. Yet, the new command to not go through with his morning training irked him.

He protested it loudly, "But I can't stop my _extreme _training! What about getting stronger? How can I do that without my normal training?" The blond gave him a glare.

"Just listen to me, kora! If you can survive my training, you'll definitely come out of this stronger than you were before, kora," Colonello promised. Ryohei gave into blind faith and decided to listen to the baby.

**X**

Takeshi wondered what sort of trainer Reborn would send for him. He was a laid back sort of guy so really it didn't matter too much to him, but the more time that passed, the more he was feeling antsy. Kyoya was missing, and that fact, alone, was enough to put the normally-relaxed teenager on edge. It didn't seem right to be doing nothing, but he didn't really have a choice. According to Reborn, the normal methods he and Tsuna used to help their friends wouldn't be enough. It was time to push themselves to the limit, to prepare for a whole new level of combat. To occupy the time, he watched his old man cut sushi expertly while he waited for his trainer.

"Oi, Takeshi, are you ready to start?" his old man said suddenly. It took a little while for the words to process, and he stared at his dad, confusedly, for a few moments. Tsuyoshi went to the door of the shop, locking it before turning off the shop lights. His old man stared at him for a while in the semi-darkness, watching the fish-like motions Takeshi's mouth seemed to be engaged in, before bursting into laughter. "What's wrong with you? Think you're too good to train with your old man?"

Takeshi was broken out of his stupor, and he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "It's not that. Reborn just said he was sending—"

"He contacted me yesterday about it," his old man said, signaling for him to follow him back into the room at the back of the shop where they normally trained. "Going against some opponents stronger than your normal grade?" The older man's eyes seemed to pierce into his son's soul, and Takeshi was sorely tempted to look away. Instead, he managed a brief affirmation and a nod. He had never mentioned the word "mafia" to his father, never gone into too much detail about what he got up to while hanging around Tsuna. Really, he was sure his old man would be proud of him for protecting his friends, but he just didn't think he was right to drag the old man into the situation. Yet, his dad seemed oddly at ease mentioned Reborn's name, as if he already knew the gun-wielding baby.

He paused in the hall, "Oi! Do you know Reborn from somewhere, old man?"

His father pushed open the door to their training area, almost as if he hadn't heard, but he turned to his son with a grim sort of smile, "We're just old acquaintances, Takeshi. You should be more worried about this training of yours." The wrinkles around Tsuyoshi's eyes deepened, and the man sighed as though he had resigned himself to something. Takeshi frowned.

"Then you know about—" his son struggled to find the right word. It felt like he was talking about some huge secret, something that he should keep almost silent, protected from the outside world. That was right, after all. The world he existed in now was outside the normal plane. Tsuna's world of hitman and mafia, Takeshi mused fondly, that's where he fit in nowadays. Tsuyoshi moved to his son and laid a hand on his shoulder firmly, shaking his head.

"Takeshi," he said, "why did you come to me to learn the Shigure Souen Ryu style?" Takeshi was startled by the sudden question and gave his father a strange look. Didn't the man already know?

"How else can I protect Tsuna? And my other friends?" he asked in return. His father smiled at him, patting his shoulder a little. "Dad?" Takeshi whispered. "What's going on?"

"I know about it, Takeshi," he said. "Do you think I didn't know about all the dangerous stunts you pulled with that boy? I wouldn't have taught you that style unless I thought it was necessary to your survival—and also to his." Those eyes seemed so old all of a sudden, and Takeshi realized there was a lot he didn't know about his old man. "The road you're walking is dangerous, you realize? Once you get past this obstacle I reckon there will be no turning back." A bittersweet smile bloomed on the man's face. "_They_ won't let you back out. It's an all or nothing sort of deal, son." Somehow, Takeshi thought, it seemed as though his dad knew from experience.

Clutching the Shigure Kintoki tightly, he spoke, "I understand." Tsuyoshi stared at his son, so resolute in his decision to continue on into Reborn's and Tsuna's world. His son was never one to go into something half-hearted, never one to give up halfway. Without a doubt, he knew that Takeshi would do anything to help Sawada Tsunayoshi, that friend he had happened to make once upon a time in middle school. "Ne, old man? Tell me about it someday?" A determined smile fell across his face. "For now, I've got to train hard so we can bring Kyoya home." Tsuyoshi smiled despite himself, despite how desperate the situation had become. His son was something else.

"We'll be working on two things," Tsuyoshi announced, holding up two fingers when they were situated inside the training room, both equipped with their own katana. Takeshi tilted his head questioningly. "The first would be that new form you've been neglecting and the second would be this." The old man's sword was swallowed in blue flames, so similar to those flames he had seen on Tsuna's and Shoichi's weapons. It seemed the old man _was_ keeping secrets. "I'm not sure what we'll accomplish with what little time we have," the older man said, "but you'll be stronger by the time your rescue mission rolls around. I can promise you that much at least." Takeshi nodded slowly, preparing himself for the first strike.

Smiling winningly, he broke the momentary silence, "Ready when you are, old man!"

**X**

The third day Tsuna had returned from training had been a _bad_ day. The teenager had crawled in through his window, shirt missing, with a particularly miffed expression on his face. Sweat was pouring from his body, and there were all sorts of cuts and scrapes adorning his skin that hadn't been there when he had left earlier during the day. Shoichi supposed the mutilated piece of clothe in his hand was his shirt, but he couldn't be sure. He kept his eyes firmly fixed on his work, on the three bullets he was supposed to be modifying and attempted to ignore the furious boy's presence. Talking to Tsuna lately had become like walking in an impossible field of landmines.

Tsuna had just put on a shirt when Lambo's obnoxious voice interrupted the delicate peace, right as the Tenth's hands were on his bottle of ever-faithful green tea, "Shoichi-baka!" The red-head could hear his friend's hold on the bottle tighten. "Oi! Tsuna's home! Did you do some cool training with Reborn? Why didn't you take Lambo-san with you, meanie! After all, Lambo is a famous hitman from the Bovino Fam—" The bottle splintered and gave way under the pressure of Tsuna's hand, sending green tea flying.

Shoichi was afraid—for himself and for Lambo. The child meant well, but he was naturally loud, naturally really annoying to the point that almost no one could stand him. During the day Tsuna's mother would watch the boy while Shoichi worked on the bullets, and then Shoichi, himself, would take Lambo home with him. At first he thought there was no possible way he could care for the kid, but Lambo grew on him. Sure, he was still crazy and still very dangerous—mostly due to poor aim when throwing his grenades—but he was a loveable child. Somehow, he didn't think Tsuna saw it that way, especially not since he had such an unpleasant look on his face. Lambo was tearing up under that harsh gaze, and Shoichi frowned.

"He doesn't mean anything by it," he explained quietly. "Lambo's just a kid; he doesn't understand—"

Tsuna's darkening gaze turned to him, "What the hell were you thinking bringing him here, Shoichi? Did you forget you have a job to complete? We don't have time for this shit." Shoichi flinched at the words, feeling the angry tears prick at his vision. He had come to love his friends and all their quirks. Sometimes they scared the hell out of him, but they meant well. This new Tsuna, bent on rescuing Kyoya, was frightening and unpredictable. It was driving him absolutely mad! "Every second of time we waste here, _playing games_, Kyoya's out there at those bastards' mercy," Tsuna added coldly. Lambo was openly sobbing, trembling where he stood.

Shoichi slammed his fist onto the table where his work was scattered, reaching the end of his rope, "You think I don't understand that? What the hell is the matter with you? You come in here every day all pissed off at everyone and everything, and then you accuse me of not caring about this as much as you do?" He sounded as hysterical as he felt. "What do you want from me? I'm working as hard as I can! I haven't slept in two days, and I have to deal with your mood swings every time you come back from training with Reborn. Can't you find something more productive to do with your anger? You're not the only one upset here." The red-head got quiet. "Kyoya's my friend as well. I-I don't know why Reborn gave me this job, but I'm going to do my best with it. I'll make sure you'll able to bring Kyoya back so stop yelling at me about it!"

Tsuna was still, and Shoichi was almost afraid to look at his face, afraid of what the brunette might do. Lambo scampered over, still in tears, to hide behind him, clutching at his shirt tightly. He could feel the little boy shiver against him, and they both waited for Tsuna to do something, anything at all to express how he felt.

Shoichi watched as Tsuna slid to the floor and was surprised to see that their leader's eyes were wet with tears. He froze where he sat, clutching onto Lambo, and he had no idea what he was supposed to do. He had never seen Tsuna cry before. Lambo, too, seemed a little concerned and had quieted considerably. The brunette let out a breathy laugh, so obviously faked, "I'm sorry, Shoichi." The red-head nearly jumped out of his skin at the words, having never heard such an apology come from the other teenager before. Tsuna covered his eyes with his hands, pulling his legs to his chest, "I haven't felt this hopeless in a long time."

"Ah," Shoichi managed out. Waving his arms frantically, he attempted to console the other male, "Tsuna! Man, I'm not good at this kind of thing." He rubbed his ailing stomach roughly, wishing the pain would go away. He crawled a little closer to his friend, who had his head resting on his knees now. Shoichi imagined the other didn't want him to see the tears he was shedding. "You're not hopeless, Tsuna. You're probably the least hopeless out of all of us." He didn't feel the need to lie since Tsuna was so very _strong_—not even this moment of weakness made him doubt that. Lambo, who had ceased crying completely, was watching from a few feet away. "If anyone can save Kyoya, it's you."

Shoichi laid a hesitant hand on the other teenager's head, hoping it would be a comfort. He felt Tsuna shiver under his hand, and the other boy spoke weakly. "If you mention this to Takeshi, I'll kill you." Shoichi laughed nervously, pulling back.

"H-hai, Tsuna-kun!" he managed to get out before he went back to work on the dying will bullets.

Lambo clung to his leg as he worked, and Tsuna remained on the floor—though he looked completely calm now and Shoichi could feel his eyes watching him work. It was close to eight o'clock when Reborn popped in, "Nana's prepared dinner. Don't keep us waiting." It seemed less like a declaration and more like a threat, but Shoichi shook it off and continued to work on the bullets. It wasn't so much about about changing the function of the bullets as it was about the tiny details (aka the underwear bit) while keeping the time limitations the same or longer. Reborn had specifically ordered that the bullets were to draw out Tsuna's calm fighting resolve rather than the violent resolve he already possessed. Shoichi wondered if the current dying will bullets would even have an effect on Tsuna at all. From what Reborn had said, you had to have a "dying will" and Tsuna didn't appear to be one to regret much—even in death.

"Oi! Reborn's going to punish you if you don't go to dinner," Tsuna said, peeking over the red-head's shoulder. The technology-savvy student hadn't even noticed him get up, though Shoichi had noticed that Lambo seemed to have disengaged himself from his leg to go downstairs already.

"Ah, I should fini—"

Tsuna fixed him with a long look, letting out a large exhale, "You're going to dinner, Shoichi. Don't make me_ drag_ you downstairs." Shoichi shivered at the tone, nodding rapidly. "And after that you're going to sleep here. You look like shit." Somehow he doubted he had much of a choice, but he supposed he didn't mind. He wouldn't tell Tsuna, he decided as they went down the steps, that Tsuna sounded an awful like his mother just then.

**X**

The next wave of invitations arrived the next night after Tsuna's outburst and breakdown.

"Don't mention these to Tsuna," Reborn had said to both Takeshi and Ryohei, the receivers of the invitations marked with a '3' and a '4' respectively. Takeshi had immediately appeared uneasy. He never withheld things from Tsuna, not purposefully anyway. What Reborn was asking of them was almost akin to blasphemy. Tsuna would never forgive him if he withheld the news of getting an invitation. The hesitance must have showed on his face since Reborn shortly after delivered a harsh kick to his cheek, "Stupid Takeshi! Tsuna will worry even more, and he'll be distracted from his training. Our preparations aren't complete yet, and if you tell him about this he'll probably run off and get himself killed." Takeshi didn't need much more convincing after that, and Ryohei also promised not to tell Tsuna about the invitations.

**X**

There ended up being a method to Colonello's madness. When he woke up, strangely enough, he felt more refreshed than ever, and it was almost as if he were invincible, he had so much energy. It had been difficult to resist the urge to train, but he managed to hold back and wait patiently—or as patiently as Ryohei could—for his teacher. The blonde appeared from the sky this time, carried by hawk of all things, and in his hands was a giant rifle that was twice the size of the baby. The blond smirked at him and asked smugly, "How are you feeling this morning, kora?"

Ryohei gave his teacher an odd look and replied as he normally did, "I feel _extremely_ rested. We're going to do some _extreme_ training today?" Something in the blond's eyes sparked, and Colonello nodded before leading the boxer to their training location in the middle of seemingly nowhere. There were a field of _extremely_ large rocks, and the baby had casually told him to pick the biggest one he could find. Ryohei had without an ounce of difficulty, and he felt the anticipation within himself build. Colonello then instructed his student to _watch very carefully and attentively._

The boxer hadn't been sure what to expect, but he hadn't anticipated his teacher would blast the gigantic rock into smithereens with a single blast from his rifle. Gazing at the baby in awe, he spoke enthusiastically, "Ahh! Master Colonello's technique is so _extreme_! Amazing! You must show me!" The baby's face split into a grin.

"I knew you'd appreciate it, kora!" Others, Colonello wouldn't add, like Reborn wouldn't appreciate such a "gaudy" display. He would never understand Reborn's obsession with such tiny guns. A rifle was so much more manly and capable, but then again, the blond would muse, it must be a reflection of _something._ 'Maybe _that _part's small, too, ne, Reborn?' he cackled to himself. He turned back to his student, "You try it, kora!" Ryohei was smiling happily, and he reached for his teacher's rifle. "Oi!" Colonello said, pulling it out of his reach, "this is mine, kora!"

"How else can I accomplish such an _extreme_ attack?" Ryohei asked, put out.

Colonello smirked, "Use your fists." Ryohei sputtered.

"Master Colonello," the boxer began, "that's _extremely_ impossible! I can't destroy such a huge rock with just my fists, no matter how much _extreme_ training I do." Colonello was still smirking despite the words.

"Why do you think I had you rest for so long, kora? Your body should be in perfect condition to deliver such an attack since your body's had plenty of time to repair itself from all the training you do constantly. Did you feel _extremely _well rested this morning? Your cells have finally had time to repair themselves, kora!"

"Cells, huh?" Ryohei said quietly. "So that means I can use this _extreme_ attack?" The baby nodded, grinning from ear to ear, raising his gun. Ryohei put his hands up quickly, ready to dodge, but Colonello shook his head.

"Accept this attack and learn from it, kora!"

Before he could protest, Ryohei was blasted by the rifle's shot.

**X**

Takeshi slumped at the table, feeling too weak to even bring the sushi to his mouth. His old man was a harsh teacher, and he hadn't let up in the past few days, not even after the arrival of the invitation. Yet, despite all the training, he hadn't made any extraordinary progress. There were no blue flames and no new form to add to his old man's Shigure Souen Ryu. Disappointment flooded him, and he felt ashamed of himself. Surely the others had made more progress, he thought. At the rate he was going he wouldn't be of much help to them at all. He pushed the plate away with a soft sigh. 'I wonder how Tsuna's doing with Reborn,' he thought to himself, letting his head drop onto the table.

Something hard smacked him in the back of the head, and he jumped up quickly, sword at the ready. His father gave him a hard look, "Don't lose yourself, Takeshi. These things take time." His father pushed the plate of food back towards him, "Eat. We're not going to start training again until you eat something. It's not healthy to continue on this way." Takeshi gave him a pitiful look that clearly said he didn't feel like eating, but Tsuyoshi was firm, and used a different tactic, "Tsuna would be disappointed if he found out that his best friend was neglecting his health. I'm sure he'd call you an 'idiot' again and punish you for being so negligent."

Takeshi picked up his chopsticks almost immediately, and his old man burst into jolly laughter. "Maa, that really did the trick, didn't it?" The teenager's face went a bit pink.

"That was a bit underhanded, old man," he mumbled, eating the sushi slowly. It probably would have worked better, he mused, if Tsuna had been there to tell him in person. After they saved Kyoya, he resolved, there would be plenty of time for that—that and so much more.


	8. Motivations and Final Invitation

**The Rebirth of Dame-Tsuna**

**Chapter 8**

**Vescaria**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.

**Warnings**: OOC!Tsuna, AU, Canon!Rape, Righthand!Yamamoto, Yaoi (8027 officially), and lots of other things. In this chapter there are mentions of child torture (in Mukuro's past).

**Notes for the Reviewers**:Sorry for the **SUPER** long wait! College and a problem with my past relationship have kept me busy and a bit down, but I haven't given up on this story! But dear me, you guys make my days…months with your reviews. Thanks for posting them. I really appreciate it. Hope everyone's having a great summer (if it is indeed summer where you are). :) This next bit is IMPORTANT! I changed something from Chapter 6. I said Mukuro broke out two weeks ago, but I've changed that. Instead, he and the others broke out about a year ago. It helps my plot out a bit, and eventually, I'll get around to explaining why Chrome is with them now.

**BTW:** I have a new poll up! It has nothing to do with this story, but I would appreciate your votes regardless. C: The poll has to do with future stories I'm planning.

**X**

"Hold him down!" a voice hollered in his dreams, and he squeezed his eyes shut so he wouldn't have to see the needle they were about to drive forth as the pain peaked. It was a miserable cycle that he knew would continue as soon as this dose of pain was harshly injected into his skin. It felt as though liquid fire was being introduced into his bloodstream, and he couldn't stop the screams from erupting forth from his mouth. He refused to cry though, despite the pain he felt spiking in his system, he refused to allow these monsters see him cry over what they had done to him. Cold hands were gripping his limbs tightly, like steel vices, and he could feel his body quaking, rejecting the foreign substances being introduced to his body. 'Stop,' he wanted to say, but there was no point.

Another voice called out heartlessly, "Another dose, I think."

"Mukuro-sama!" a voice said loudly, and Rokuro Mukuro snapped up and out of his dream in a matter of seconds. The face of a concerned and eager-to-please Ken Jōshima stared down at him. "Ne, Mukuro-sama, did you have a bad dream or something?" Mukuro smiled widely before he reached up to ruffle the other's hair. 'Don't worry about it,' the gesture said, and Ken accepted it, though he remained concerned about their leader. He opened his mouth to reply when someone interrupted him.

"Oi, Ken, I told you to let him sleep," a quiet voice scolded from the doorway of the large, top-floor room of their busted-up hideout. The blonde bristled in anger, glaring at the newcomer.

"Don't boss me around, you glasses-wearing freak!" Ken growled, sounding much more like an animal than a human. Mukuro left them to their fight. Really, it was their own brand of affection, and who was he to take it away from his tiny family? Smiling to himself, he watched the proceedings with amusement. His thoughts, however, soon turned back to his dream as he tuned the two out.

Day in and day out, his life had been a constant roller coast filled with painful experiments and a sickeningly hopeless feeling. The Estraneo family had created a terrifying reputation that towered over the other mafia families—all with the creation of one type of bullet. It was banned, the Possession Bullet, and the Estraneos were eliminated one by one by the other families, too big a threat to simply leave alive. Yet, it didn't stop the family from proceeding with their experiments. In the beginning, before the bullet, they curiously explored the limits of human abilities—at the expense of the children being experimented on. The boy could remember being starved for weeks, just to see how long it took for him to nearly die. Some did. Mukuro could vividly remember the bodies of the other children, grotesquely disfigured and malnourished, all being hauled out to the trash. The experiments turned darker, and he would have liked nothing more to die like those before him as the cruel hands of his Famiglia tortured him.

However, he wanted to survive. If only for revenge, he pressed on. He lived for _them, _the other children that one by one died as a result of the Estraneo's experiments. The Estraneos had created him, with their vile experiments and need for power. They had repeatedly told him that he should be _proud_ to have been chosen for experimentation. 'Sacrifices must be made to achieve greatness,' they whispered to him cruelly, as though it would ease his pain. With a smile, one day, he crushed them, and the power he held in his hands felt sweet—even if the journey to receive it was something he never wanted to experience again.

For _their_ sake he would create a world free of such dirty forces, and with his power, Mukuro planned to force the mafia world to its knees. Starting with the famed Vongola bastards.

"Whatever," Chikusa finally muttered, ignoring the blond, breaking Mukuro out of his thoughts. "Mukuro-sama," he said after a little while, "I got us some food." The Italian raised an eyebrow at Chikusa, who blushed a moment under the scrutiny. His eyes had narrowed ever so slightly as his mind raced through the possibilities of how Chikusa could have purchased the food for the week. They had mostly run out of money just a few weeks ago, and the last one of them to have money at all was M.M., a red-headed woman who had escaped prison with them. She was quite particular about keeping up and saving her money.

"Ha!" Ken jumped in, snickering, "You borrowed money from M.M., didn't you!" This time, Chikusa grew angry at his comrade and went on the defensive, glaring at him harshly through his glasses. Ken continued to cackle though his answer.

"I didn't, you idiot! And anyway," he snapped, before becoming a bit more somber, "she doesn't have any money either." Ken's laughter stopped. Chikusa bowed his head a bit, "I'm sorry, Mukuro-sama. I know we shouldn't be reduced to such methods but I got M.M. to distract the store owner for a few minutes, and I—" Mukuro felt pity for the other teenager, one of his most loyal companions, who looked about ready to cry. Even if he was labeled a criminal, Mukuro had a code of sorts that he followed. The mafia was made up of the worst types of scum, and everything they had wasn't truly theirs. To steal from one of the Families, well, in the man's eyes, that was acceptable. Stealing from the common people on the other hand? It was something he didn't encourage, but he knew they had to survive.

"It's alright," Mukuro assured him, smiling slightly. "It's not your fault. You've handled our budget very well since our escape." He paused for a moment and added as an afterthought, "It's amazing that you managed to get the money to last as long as it has." Chikusa nodded stiffly, glad he didn't have to say anything else on the matter. They had been on the run for a year, hiding from the mafia who intended to lock them back in prison (and probably excecute them) for their supposed 'crimes'. They had taken what money they could from the Estraneo, hidden it before they were sent to prison. A year later they had exhausted every bit of it, especially since they were supporting nine people (ten if you counted their current prisoner, Hibari), and now they had to resort to less favorable methods to survive.

"It doesn't really matter. We won't have to live like this for much longer," Mukuro said coolly, the statement laced with all sorts of dark undertones.

**X**

He was a carnivore, and it angered him to no end that he was being used as something so simple and degrading as _bait._ His captives had undervalued him, treated him like less than their goal, Sawada Tsunayoshi. While the prefect admired his ally to some extent, the whole situation left a bad taste in his mouth. That foolish herbivore Mukuro would see his strength, and he would regret capturing him. The black-haired teenager gritted his teeth, mind wandering onto thoughts of possible ways to escape and the mistake that lead to his capture in the first place.

The Discipline Committee members he had sent to handle the situation had all been hospitalized, all with sizeable injuries. As their leader, it was his duty to them and, more importantly, to Namimori to eliminate the threat. _No one_ disturbed the peace of Namimori. As the self-appointed keeper of the peace, he would bite to death any herbivore who decided to try. After proceeding to the location typed on one of the invitations, Kyoya came face to face with the man behind the trouble. At least, he assumed it was the man behind the trouble; they didn't exactly exchange many words upon their first meeting.

Dressed in an unknown school uniform, the other didn't appear to be much. In fact, the prefect thought he looked weak, and he had assumed it was just another herbivore attempting to sink its blunt teeth into Namimori. Hibari was used to the weak ones attempting to gain the upper hand against him. Bullies. Thugs. Gangs. They all crumbled after a few hits from his tonfas, most not even putting up much of a fight. In fact, some ran away at the sight of him, but even those were not allowed to escape their punishments.

"Maa," the other had said, smiling crookedly. "You're early, Hibari-san." Hibari merely glared, raising his tonfas before going in for the kill. He hated waiting for others to make the first move, and he hated to be disturbed over such nonsense. Peace and quiet. That's what he had craved that night, and the teenager before him was getting in the way of it. But just as he was about to make the first strike, the pineapple-haired teen disappeared into thin air.

"Ne, Kyoya? What are you doing?"

When he turned, to his surprise, there was Yamamoto Takeshi, standing behind him with a normal happy smile on his face. Hibari lowered his tonfas, feeling his irritation rise. Where the hell had the pineapple-head gone? "Yamamoto," the prefect greeted neutrally, not voicing his confusion. He waited a few more seconds, still fully alert, but there wasn't a sign of the other boy anywhere. The prefect had begun to think he had imagined it, and it crossed his mind that maybe he hadn't been sleeping enough. 'Or perhaps I've contracted a cold,' he mused to himself. Tucking his tonfas away, Hibari turned fully to Takeshi.

"Ha," his ally laughed easily, putting a hand behind his back casually, a very normal gesture for Yamamoto, as he stepped forward, "you're making this really easy, Hibari-san." Eyes narrowed, Hibari's hands immediately reached for his tonfas—too late. The vision of Takeshi melted into the pineapple-haired boy just as he was forced into unconsciousness with the butt of what appeared to be a trident.

The leader of the Disciple Committee had woken up in a small room devoid of light or any type of furniture, his hands and feet bound by duct tape. The room was dusty and had a very gritty feel. The pineapple-haired teenager, who introduced himself as Mukuro Rokudo, unbound him, promising the prefect that he would never find a way to escape their lair. Hibari would have been quick to prove the other wrong; however, he felt weak, his body feeling the effects of some unknown force that kept him grounded. After that, the herbivore had proceeded to tell him that he was bait for a bigger 'catch'. Tsunayoshi. Since his capture (the duration of which was unknown to Hibari), the other would pop in every now and then to taunt him, but generally, Mukuro left him alone—no doubt focused on luring Tsuna to their location. Hibari, meanwhile, plotted his revenge against the herbivore so set on going against Tsunayoshi, his own prey.

After a while in the darkness of the small room, Hibari could hear the sound of dainty footsteps coming his way, but he could barely move. After a few moments of struggle, he managed to prop himself up against the wall. The door to the dark, musty room he was trapped in opened slowly, and someone stepped inside quietly. "Hibari-san? I brought you some food." The voice was female, very tentative and light. The Japanese teenager, though not entirely pleased about the newcomer, was glad that at least Mukuro had decided to stop taunting him for a while. He vowed that as soon as he was able, he was going to bite that sorry excuse for a human to death. He followed the woman's movements sharply, watching her move over to him carefully as though he were a dangerous animal.

"Ah, Hibari-san, I know it's not much, but—" She bit her lip, and it was then that Kyoya noticed that she wore an eye patch over one of her eyes. In her hands was a bag of potato chips, a small packaged cake, and a plastic bottle that seemed to be filled with water. Hibari regarded her with a raised eyebrow—though the movement was painful—and the girl blushed lightly. "We don't have very much so this is all we can offer you at the moment," she said quietly.

"Why offer it at all?" he asked coolly. The girl looked surprised for a moment.

She knelt on the ground close to him, handing him the water first, "I know Mukuro-sama hasn't been very nice to you, Hibari-san." He would have snorted if he wasn't Hibari Kyoya; however, he remained silent, eyes darkening at the mention of 'Mukuro-sama'. "But," she whispered, hands clenching her worn, pleated skirt tightly, "he wouldn't torture you like that." Hibari guessed there was more to the story than the woman was speaking aloud. A bit reluctant to partake in her offering, he opened the water bottle in silence, taking a sip. The girl had opened the cake for him, holding it out for him.

Hibari eyed it distastefully, and she stared at him wide-eyed and confused for a moment. "I hate sweets," he said, taking another drink out of the bottle. The girl set the cake on her skirts, blushing, before opening the chips. Hibari took them from her slowly, not particularly fond of them either. After eating a handful, a bit daintily the girl noted internally, he handed the bag back.

"Eat the rest," the male commanded. The girl squeaked at the sudden order, pointing a finger at herself questioningly. The leader of the Discipline Committee gave her a hard look, and the girl shook her head softly. She stood after a moment, food gathered in her arms, and she began to move towards the exit, when Hibari spoke again, "Herbivore."

The girl turned, head cocked questioningly. "Your name," he said in a demanding voice.

"Chrome."

**X**

Tsuna was unsurprised to receive his invitation, decorated with the same 'tacky' gold lettering as the others. Unlike the others, however, his was marked with the number '1' and did not have a specific time, and it appeared that someone had penned a few sentences on the back. The handwriting was near illegible, and it took Tsuna a few moments to decipher the words.

_The skylark's not much fun anymore. _

_Better send us a tuna!_

_If it doesn't show up soon, who knows _

_what we'll have to do to the poor bird? _

To add insult to injury, whoever had written it had included a snarky little smiley face underneath their script. Without really thinking, Tsuna crushed the tiny card in his fist and went to find Reborn. Ready or not, it was time to launch their rescue mission, and the baby hitman, surely, would agree with him.

Unsurprisingly, his 'tutor' had smacked him down for getting too worked up over the card, especially after seeing how Tsuna had crushed it, but he then suggested (or rather, _ordered_) the Vongola heir to go to Shoichi. The other boy was still slumped over the desk in Tsuna's room where they had left him, concentrating on one of the bullets in his hand. When Reborn addressed him, the red-head nearly jumped out of his skin, but he somehow managed to keep from dropping the bullet he held. Turning to the two, he gave them a questioning look. In reply, Tsuna showed him the crumpled card with a grave expression.

Shoichi's face paled a few shades after reading the handwritten message. "They're not ready!" he said in a panicked voice. "They do what they're supposed to now but the duration is really short! I mean, they probably won't last more than four or five minutes per shot, and that probably won't be enough time. There's only four bullets, and that's just twenty minutes. At the most! Not nearly enough time. Especially not if Mukuro is as sca—" The red-head babbled pathetically, and Tsuna flicked his ear, _hard_, to shut him up. Irie _did_ drop the bullet then, his hand immediately going to cover his abused ear.

"Twenty minutes? That's _more_ than enough," Tsuna grunted determinedly. Reborn frowned, tilting his hat down a bit to shadow his face. "I'll have him on the ground crying in five." The hitman knocked Tsuna's legs out from under him at the resolute statement, and Leon smoothly became a familiar green gun in the baby's hand, pointing directly between the boy's eyes.

Reborn stared him down for a few seconds, "Don't get cocky, Dame-Tsuna." The two were locked in a tight stare with Reborn calmly staring down his student and Tsuna glaring back at Reborn hatefully. Then after a few seconds had passed between them, the lizard transformed back and climbed onto Reborn's hat, making itself comfortable and paying little attention to the tension building in the room. Shoichi, with very little prompting, gave the bullets to Reborn a few moments later, and Tsuna went to call Ryohei and Takeshi. It was time.

**X**

Haru didn't consider herself a pushover. In fact, Haru Miura thought herself to be a strong, confident, and intelligent young woman capable of many things—including fighting for Tsuna's friend Hibari. She liked Hibari enough, as long as he kept his tonfas to himself, and she thought him to be quite a suitable friend for her dashing husband-to-be. The prefect was strong, just like Tsuna (though not stronger, she thought). Tsuna was so much more handsome (and dare she say beautiful) when fighting for such a righteous cause, and the girl couldn't help but feel strongly as well.

And that moron Gokudera had the audacity to laugh at her! "Oi! What's so funny about it, you idiot?" she questioned defensively. To better prepare herself against their foes, Haru had gone to the hospitalized Gokudera for information. Of all of Tsuna's 'friends', she liked him least, finding his personality abrasive, and she _despised_ how the boy was trying to worm his way into Tsuna's inner circle. The Italian might look innocent enough around Tsuna, but she knew he wasn't right for their group. He was much too rough for her Tsuna.

The boy continued laughing until Haru threatened to aggravate his wounds. Finally, Hayato stopped laughing enough to speak, "Bah! You're too weak to fight against the mafia! And anyways, Tsuna would never let someone like _you_ fight with him. Stupid woman." The silver-haired boy didn't add the fact that Tsuna was against _him_ fighting with them as well. He squeezed his hands into a fist, vowing to himself silently that he would become strong enough to fight alongside the Tenth.

Haru bristled like a cat, "What does that have to do with anything? Idiot! Haru can fight just as well as you or anyone else!"

Gokudera snorted, "Really?" His tone was disbelieving, and he glared at her harshly. "It's not a game, you know. You'd never make it out alive." Haru almost snapped out that her Tsuna would protect her, but then, the very nature of her unspoken statement dawned on her. 'I'd be a burden,' the girl thought miserably. Slumping into her chair, she sulked in silence. Gokudera grumbled something under his breath about stupid women who didn't understand anything.

Haru sighed heavily, "I just wanted to help." Gokudera turned on his side, so that his back was to the girl, but she kept on talking as though he had not moved. "Tsuna helped me, at the beginning of high school," she began. "He beat up this _huge_ group of bullies who had cut up some of my costumes, and he wasn't even part of our school." She smiled dreamily at the thought of the man who stood up to and beat down her tormentors. "And then, he told me to stop crying over it because it was dumb to cry over such a silly thing." Gokudera gaped as she spoke, though the girl couldn't see. Didn't the stupid girl want to be Tsuna's wife?

"Haru was upset at first, because she thought he was kind of harsh and mean," she admitted, tracing patterns on her skirt as she recalled. "But Tsuna-kun was right," Miura said. "Crying wouldn't fix my ruined costumes or do anything about it. So she promised herself that she would be a strong woman!" Well, Gokudera thought, that was pretty amazing of the Tenth to influence her like that. Tsuna made people want to be strong with just a few words. "So that Tsuna-kun would like her and make her his wife." Hayato also thought, quietly and to himself, that the Tenth attracted trouble and _very _dangerous women.

In response to her (somewhat creepy) final statement, Gokudera pulled the covers of the hospital bed over his head with a groan.

"Oi, what's wrong with Gokudera-kun?" a familiar voice asked, concerned.

"Hahi! Yamamoto-kun, you're not training?" Haru asked, tilting her head a little as she posed her question. When Gokudera flipped over and shoved the covers off his head, he saw the swordsman in the doorway. The other boy was carrying what the smoker assumed was a sword, covered and tied with a blue cloth and black cord. He was dressed in casual athletic clothes, and he waved and smiled at Gokudera warmly.

Scratching his head sheepishly, Yamamoto spoke, "No, we're about to head out. Tsuna, Ryohei, and Shoichi are outside waiting for me. I just wanted to let you know that we're leaving."

Gokudera frowned and, after a second, his face became very determined, "I'm coming." The boy threw his legs over the side of the bed and stood. He attempted to hide the pain the movement caused, determined to appear strong in front of Tsuna's future right-hand. The former baseball player's facial expression almost closed off as he watched.

"Maa, I don't think that's a good idea. You're not really in good shape to be fighting, Gokudera-kun," he said, his words leaving no room for argument. The swordsman tapped his bundled sword absently, eyeing the bomber with a calculating gaze. The bandages around Gokudera's torso were telling, and there was no doubt in Yamamoto's mind that it wouldn't take a lot of strain for the other boy to open those wounds. To illustrate a point, he strode up to Gokudera, who was still attempting to appear unpained, gently prodding his chest. Unsurprisingly, the boy crumpled, doubling over in pain, growling all sorts of swear words and threats.

"Bastard! What the hell did you do that for! _Fuck, that hurts_!"

Yamamoto just smiled, giving him an apologetic look, "Sorry about that. Maybe you should lie down?" To his credit, he _did _sound sorry for causing the other pain. However, the silver-haired teenager simply glowered at him, but he moved back towards the hospital bed to help steady himself. "I'll be going then," the man said calmly, watching him with a soft smile. "Wish us luck, ne?" Haru, despite her distaste for Gokudera, helped the boy back into bed, her gaze alternating between Yamamoto-kun and Gokudera.

"Good luck, Yamamoto-kun! I know you and Tsuna-kun will be able to rescue Hibari-san!" Haru declared energetically. Gokudera grumbled something that sounded like, 'The Tenth doesn't need luck, stupid woman.' Haru chose to ignore him, and Yamamoto left the room to rejoin their group outside, his small smile fading away as he descended the stairs to the lobby of the hospital. Upon his exit, he spied Tsuna along with Ryohei, Shoichi, and Reborn, and with the same almost solemn looks, they headed for Kokuyo land.


End file.
